Tapping & Tubing

The arch enemy of sugarmakers is the squirrel.
More than maybe any other force of nature—a bad season, a bad wind, fallen branches—it’s the hordes of gray and red squirrels that cause the most costly damage in the woods, chewing up tubing, fittings and spouts. [ MORE ]

Results in from 2016 3/16” tubing research

Stephen Childs, NYS Maple Specialist |

The 2016 maple sap season offered an interesting look at the effects of 3/16” tubing on vacuum without significant elevation drop and some comparisons of 3/16” tubing with and without the addition of mechanical vacuum. [ MORE ]

3/16 tubing thoughts and observations

Arthur G. Krueger, P.E. |

In the December 2015 issue of Maple News, a person discussing 3’16” tubing said that one needed 10’ of fall for the system to work. At best, 10’ would only give a vacuum of 9” of mercury (9” hg on your vacuum guage). Not exactly a high vacuum system. 40’ or 50’ of fall is required for high vacuum. If set up right, these systems will develop a high vacuum in the tubing itself without a pump or releaser. [ MORE ]

Going underground

Peter Gregg |

Mike Ross expects his underground pipeline to last a lot longer than he will.

“You get 150-year life out of PVC pipe,” he said during a 2015 tour for The Maple News at his RMG Family Maple orchard in Rudyard, located in the far right corner of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. [ MORE ]

Device eases tubing connections

Peter Gregg |

A relatively new invention is going into the woods this sugaring season that eliminates the need for that clunky tubing tool, the necessary evil when it comes to running lines. [ MORE ]