Check Valve adapters

[danno]

[QUOTE=Russell Lampron;107168]I bought a tap removal tool at Bascom's a couple of years ago. It works great and cost $12 at the time. It is sort of like a crow bar with an opening wide enough to go over a 7/16" spout between the 90 degree and the tree.

I had the same tap remover and it worked excellent - unitl I lost it in the woods a couple of seasons ago. Amazing how the woods just can eat up your tools.

[maple flats]

I made my own removal tool. I bought a $1.88 wonder bar look alike and with a dremel tool using a small round sander wheel I made a notch for taps in the end of the short leg. I cost me $1.88 + 2 sanding wheels (@.25ea) and about 5 minutes time. It works perfectly. Those prices are from about 6 yrs ago. I still have it.
As far as the CV's I have not checked yet, but my taps started running again today. I went to wash tanks to get ready for tomorrow when I expect 26 degrees overnight. When I got there the tank at my 400 tap woods was running fairly well, but I am sure it had not run for too many hours. It was running at the estimated rate of 1 gal/3 minutes but I only had 80 gal in the tank. I dumped my wash water and collected the sap which was only very slightly cloudy in spite of being 5 days since it last ran. I am looking at weather that says I may get 7-8 days flow in a row with one too cold day on friday. If this comes to be I will more than tripple my years production. After finding this I checked my other woods by my sugarhouse with 175 taps and nothing was flowing. Must be cold air rose this time. My sugarhouse is at 475 elevation and my 400 tap woods ranges from 1040' on the lower end and just short of 1160' on top and all is on a slope of 5% to 55% with lots of place for cold air drainage to go off the side of the hill. I never expected it when I had mid thirties down below. This year is really confusing me.

[KenWP]

I so far for normal taps use a cresent wrench and it works great but those stupid adaptors are hard to get the wrench behind. Also I used a bunch of stubbies I had for taps and they work fine but they are tight against the tree. I know what idiot uses stubbies for taps.

[maple sapper]

I pulled a bunch of my cv's out tday and really like the wing dings on the sides. They came out so easy. Some I was able to pull out by hand with a twist. I am going to be sad when I have to pull out the old style I replaced them with that are just round. But if they give me sap this weekend I wont care.

[Randy Brutkoski]

Stubbies as spouts..... Did you have to use a 1/2 inch drill bit? You Canadians never surprise me.

[KenWP]

7/16 just like the regular spouts. They pound in okay and produce sap. I used a few of those goofy tube spouts also. Had to figure out how to pound them in the tree with out mashing the end the tube fits on. I fiannly used one of the tees from a drop line with the cup.Iit fits over the end and you can pound them into a tree.

[sapman]

Dave (maple flats), what road is your big bush on? I drove by one on an east facing hill sort of southeast or east of Clockville last year. Is that about right? Seems like there's a quarry nearby, or large landfill or something, too.

Tim

[maple flats]

Sounds like you saw mine. Going in one direction, up the road the main is black 3/4" and in the other direction going up thru the lower section of woods is all blue main. From one end to the other it is probably .4 mile. This is on Buyea Rd, about a mile or 1.5 mile past the county landfill, on the way to Peterboro. Last year I used 2 tanks, a 6' stock tank with lid for the black main and a 550 gal plastic forthe blue main. This year I raised the lower end of the black and went to just the 550 tank. This has 400 taps and is where I am adding vac for 2011.