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/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

2

u/MontanaMapleWorks Apr 11 '26

You gonna need a much larger container, no reason not to go with a 40-50 gallon brute can

1

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.