January thaw

[minehart gap]

Let me first say that I agree with Dr. Abby at Proctor, it is not a good practice! I only bump taps if I go thru a heat and the taps stop or slow down to the point that I don’t get enough sap to fire the RO back up. Original depth is one an a quarter inches then when I bump I go another half inch. Some springs it is not required, we can have a 70 degree day here then followed by two or more weeks of perfect sap weather, another weather event we struggle with is tap holes freeze drying, something northerners nor Proctor or Cornell deals with! !

I believe that we in central PA may be in more of the same situation that you are in as opposed to the northern states. It seems that all of the research is done in and relevant to the climate and elevation that just are not present here.

I bumped a few holes this Spring mainly because I tapped two weeks later than the neighboring camp. I bumped to some try something new! I had in the past bumped with same size bit as the original hole! Biggest issue I had was tap hole integrity, when bumping if you wobble just a little bit you can have a vacuum leak! I bumped this year with a smaller bit so spile was tight again therefore on vacuum leak! I don’t recommend doing this, follow the science!

Interesting, I have only ever bumped twice and had the same problem. Smaller bit would help. I had heard of retapping and originally thought that is what I was doing. Didn't know that I was bumping until Dr. Tim's explanation.

I will try to get you the numbers from the neighboring camp that produced 200 gallons more, I’m pretty sure they had made around 400 gallons before bumping.
Mark 220 Maple

For not being a recommend practice, those results would be hard for me to ignore especially if the wound was less than 1/3 larger than a standard 1 3/4" deep tap hole.