Anyone use an ultrasonic cleaner ? I just bought a bigger better one from Harbor Freight today to clean my maple taps. I've used a smaller one in the past..so hoping this works to decrud these taps...and save me a bunch of work and time ! What do you guys have ?
Taps go into sugar maple trees to make maple syrup The sap runs into pipeline or buckets to be boiled down
Also..these specific tree taps are for using old school buckets...in my case..sap sacks ! Blue or clear !
Do animals mess with the sap lines or buckets/bags? Seems like those bags, especially the blue ones, are screaming for some animal (raccoon, bear etc) to come destroy! Although yall's bears probably do more of a true hibernation than they do here.
Yes they do ! The blue ..more so than the clear...seems to attract squirrels the worst. Out of 200 taps...I replaced about 20 bags in the field last season. They take a second to change out....and we check everyday..so sap loss is minimal..but not appreciated lol . Some bags seem to get cut up on the bark if the wind is whipping the bag around on the spout...when no liquid is in the sap sack. Luckily..we don't typically have bear sightings in our neck of the woods ! Now the guys on tubing....they have to deal with squirrels ....tree branches...deer running through the woods and snagging lines with there racks ..and who knows what else. In that respect...im happy replacing a few bags lol
I’m surprised your cleaning those . Have you tried the 5/16 seasonal poly spouts ? I just replace them every year , more sap ! They will work with your sack holders as well . As far as tubing , I have 2000 taps on tubing and squirrels are the worst when your on vacuum . Deer mostly just fawns will do a little damage chewing but not bad . Very rarely will I find tubing “ destroyed “ by deer . They get thru the woods just fine with all the tubing and I’m in mid Mich , pretty thick herd here .
Shouldn't be a surprise that im cleaning ...lots of people still use these and clean them. I've read all the studies and all that about replacing with plastic every year. Just no need to change at this point. Maybe some day. I've got guys out our way..that have had serious damage from trees and deer.....so I guess your lucky. What's interesting to me..is that everyone sugars alil different. Different way..different equipment . If we all did it the same...that would be boring !
Absolutely true . It’s just not worth my time cleaning 2000 of them . Since I run vacuum pumps and have cost associated with that I want the most sap I can get and it’s worth it to me to get 5-10% plus more sap . I’ve seen people try and clean poly spouts but the only way to get them like new is autoclave . At .16 cents each it works for me to just replace them . Some years damage is worse then others . Fortunately I’ve removed almost all the dead ash trees so don’t need to worry about those falling on the mainlines which can be difficult to repair . The smaller standing dead elms I work on keeping those in check as well . Lateral lines are easy to repair tho . No moose or bears here so that’s a good thing .
If I had 2000..I would do exactly like you. Replace every year. At some point...you figure your effort vs money...and go that way . From what I understand...I think its that much more important with tubing...to replace the spouts and drop lines and such. I'd love to get some experience with the tubing systems one of these years. It's interesting for sure. I hope you post pics of your setup from time to.time..if there's time ! I'd be interested for sure.
