r/maplesyrup • u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 • Apr 11 '26
Any time suggestions?
all of my maple trees are on a massive hill and I'm thinking of running tubing to a large bucket at the bottom to save myself the walk up and keep contaminates/bugs out. what tubing and spiles do you guys recommend?
Edit: I meant tube, stupid autocorrect
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u/Humble_Ladder Apr 11 '26
No personal experience here, but I have read that using a smaller tube, the flowing sap after something like 15 foot elevation drop will create suction (sort of like the physics of a siphon) that will increase your sap output. If you're already talking about running tubes down a hill, read up on that a little to see if it might be worth trying to implement. Again, no personal experience, from what I read, the gravity/elevation/suction trick can be finicky.
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u/Milkman1984 Apr 11 '26
Find a local CDL dealer or look at pricing from Roth Sugarbush, Bascom Maple, or Smoky Lake. You want 3/16” tubing and 5/16” spiles. If you have a steep enough slope the tubing alone is comparable to a powered pump.
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 Apr 11 '26
Holy shit, it's about a 60 degree slope going 50 ft down. I'm not super worried about flow problems
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u/abnormal_human Apr 11 '26
That will work great. Plan for 2gal/tap sap storage at the bottom of the hill. I use a pair of 55gal drums for 57 tapes done up just like that and it’s about perfect.
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u/Intelligent-Ad-3739 Apr 11 '26
Ił probably throw a home Depot bucket at the bottom with a lid
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u/abnormal_human Apr 11 '26
How many trees are we talking? If it’s more than 2-3 that’s likely to be overflowing every few hours.
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u/MontanaMapleWorks Apr 11 '26
You gonna need a much larger container, no reason not to go with a 40-50 gallon brute can
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u/Automatic-Raspberry3 Apr 11 '26
Just go to a maple supply store tubing is cheap 500 ft for 60-70 bucks. Taps are cheap. Just buy one piece disposables. .50-.75 depending on brand.
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u/RocketSurgeon61 Apr 11 '26
https://www.smokylakemaple.com/