Survey Invitations Results Filtering Invitations Sent: 0 Invitations Accepted: 0 Untracked Responses: 94 Total Responses Received: 94 invitations & send reminders Select Used >10% CV Adapters Edit Delete Add Filter Question 1 Approximately how many taps did you have during the 2010 sugaring season? Range: 12900 (100 to 13000) Average: 2695.8490566038 Median: 1300 Total responses: 53 Mode: 400 Show values Question 2 Where are you from (State or Province)? Text Answers (15) Maine Maine Vermont Vermont Vermont ohio Connecticut West Virginia Maine nh New Hampshire VT
ma. New York NY, St Lawrence County Expand >> Question 3 What was your approximate yield in SAP (gallons) per tap this year? 0.1-4.9 gal sap/tap 6 11% 5.0-9.9 gal sap/tap 10 19% 10.0-14.9 gal sap/tap 12 23% 15.0-19.9 gal sap/tap 7 13% 20.0-24.9 gal sap/tap 11 21% 25.0-29.9 gal sap/tap 4 8% 30.0 or more gal sap/tap 3 6% Question 4 How would you describe your sap yield this year? Way less than average 12 23% Less than average 17 32% Average 14 26% More than average 7 13% Way more than average 3 6% Question 5 How would you describe your sap sugar content (Brix) this year? Way lower than average? 6 11% Lower than average? 25 47% Average? 20 38% Higher than average? 2 4% Way higher than average? 0 0%
Question 6 How would you describe the amount of sugar sand (niter) this year? Way lower than average? 1 2% Lower than average? 8 15% Average? 31 58% Higher than average? 11 21% Way higher than average? 2 4% Question 7 Do you use Reverse Osmosis? If yes, how high do you concentrate to? Don't use Reverse Osmosis 17 33% Concentrate to 5-7 Brix 5 10% Concentrate to 8-10 Brix 14 27% Concentrate to 11-15 Brix 11 22% Concentrate to 16-20 Brix 4 8% Concentrate above 20 Brix 0 0% Question 8* What was the size of the majority of the spouts you used? 7/16" 2 4% 5/16" 45 85% 19/64" 6 11% Other 0 0% Question 9 Were the majority of your spouts
Clear-straight-through spouts (CST) 0 0% Metal (stainless) 1 2% One-piece plastic with a 90 deg bend 9 17% Two-piece plastic (Stubby & Adapter) with a 90 deg bend 10 19% Two-piece plastic (Stubby & Adapter) straight through 1 2% 7/16" Spout with a new adapter 0 0% Check-valve spouts 32 60% Question 10 If you use Clear-straight-through spouts or replaceable spout adapters, do you Replace them each year 28 78% Clean them in the woods and reuse them each year 0 0% Bring them out of the woods and clean/reuse them each year 5 14% Replace them after 1-2 years of use 2 6% Replace them after 3-4 yrs of use 1 3% Replace them after 5+ yrs of use 0 0% Not replace them 0 0% Question 11 How old are the majority of your mainlines? New this year 5 9% 1-2 Yrs Old 12 23% 3-5 Yrs Old 19 36% 6-10 Yrs Old 13 25% Over 10 Yrs Old 4 8% Question 12 How old are the majority of your lateral lines?
New this year 5 9% 1-2 Yrs Old 12 23% 3-5 Yrs Old 24 45% 6-10 Yrs Old 12 23% Over 10 Yrs Old 0 0% Question 13 How old are the majority of your droplines? New this year 12 23% 1-2 Yrs Old 18 34% 3-5 Yrs Old 16 30% 6-10 Yrs Old 7 13% Over 10 Yrs Old 0 0% Question 14 Did you replace any droplines this year? If so, in what percentage of your operation did you replace droplines? Did not replace any droplines (except some repairs) 20 39% Less than 10% 8 16% 10-25% 6 12% 26-50% 8 16% 51-75% 3 6% 76-100% 6 12% Question 15 How old are the majority of your spouts New this year 32 62% 1-2 Yrs Old 10 19%
3-5 Yrs Old 6 12% 6-10 Yrs Old 4 8% Over 10 Yrs Old 0 0% Question 16 Gravity or vacuum? Buckets 0 0% Gravity Tubing 5 9% Vacuum - Less than 15" Hg 0 0% Vacuum 15-19" Hg 10 19% Vacuum 20-24" Hg 23 43% Vacuum 25+"Hg 15 28% Question 17 What improvements to your sap collection system do you plan to make for next season? (Check all that apply) Add more taps 32 23% Add vacuum to a system currently without vacuum 9 7% Increase vacuum level above what I had this year 16 12% Reduce # taps on lateral lines (on vacuum system) 13 9% Use new spout adapters 8 6% Use Clear-straight-through spouts 0 0% Use Check-valve spouts 28 20% Replace some old droplines with new droplines 16 12% Replace some old lateral line with new lateral line 13 9% Other 3 2% ID If 1513168 We fall tapped 10,000 out of 12,000 - starting on Nov 15th last year. We only retapped 7,000 of those. The remaining 3,000 ran well until the 60 degree weather in Mid March - then they shut down significantly. Those were 1/4" CSTs. Our sap yield would've b Survey 1520731 none 1522487 converted 5060 taps to CV's this year. Plan to replace 1400 CDL 3 year old spout adapters with
Leader check valves in 2011 1522630 plan to use quick disconnects on all droplines, that way spouts and drops can be taken in and sterilized as i will do with the check valves. 1530849 I can get the money 1530996 replace remaing defective Leader tubing 1531345 tighten up latterals, reduce sap standing in lines 1531376 Bigger vacuum pumps and increase mainline sizes 1545002 use a new set of check valve adapters Question 18 What is the minimum size tree you tap (diameter in inches)? Range: 11 (5 to 16) Average: 9 Median: 9 Total responses: 52 Mode: 8 Show values Question 19 What is the minimum size tree you put a second tap in (diameter in inches, if you only use one tap, put 0)? Range: 18 (12 to 30) Average: 20.232558139535 Median: 20 Total responses: 43 Mode: 20 Show values Question 20 Did you ream tapholes this year? If so, did it help? Didn't ream 52 98% Reamed didn't help 0 0% Reamed helped a little 1 2% Reamed helped a lot 0 0%
Question 21* Did you try the Leader Check-Valve Spout this season? Yes 53 100% No 0 0% Question 22 If you tried the Leader Check-Valve Spouts, what % of your taps did you put these on? Didn't try them 0 0% Just a couple 0 0% 5-10% 0 0% 11-25% 7 13% 26-50% 8 15% 51-75% 9 17% 76-100% 29 55% Question 23 If you tried the Leader Check-Valve Spouts, did you put them on new or used drops? Didn't try them 0 0% All on new drops 20 38% All on used drops (1-5 Yrs old) 11 21% All on used drops (6+ Yrs old) 8 15% Some on new some on old drops (drops 1-5 Yrs Old) 10 19% Some on new some on old drops (drops 6+ Yrs Old) 4 8% Question 24 Did you experience any of the following issues with the Leader Check-Valve Spout Adapters?
(Multiple responses are allowed for this question) Didn't try them 0 0% Spout adapters broke more than usual when tapping 11 18% Cage broke and ball came out when tapping 20 32% Ball got sucked down lateral line 9 15% Balls found in releaser 1 2% Had to reseat them more than other types of spouts 11 18% Other 10 16% ID If other, please note issue Survey 1518403 no problems on gravity tubing 1520731 Issue with stubby falling of CV spout during hard freezes. 1522630 discovered many of my spouts would not seat well in the check valves. 1523869 Ball came out when hammering into tree, 5% 1526825 reseat cv into stubbie 1530849 check valves seemed to bend and conform to that bent shape 1530996 many stuck open with wood chips. Need to clean holes better 1534751 gumed up so some were not functioning 1535980 no negative issues 1545002 We had several stuck in the open position Expand >> Question 25 Compared to other spouts in my woods or neighbors wood, in terms of sap yield, do you feel the Check-Valve Spout Adapter Didn't use 0 0% Yielded a lot less than a regular spout 0 0% Yielded less than a regular spout 1 2% Yielded about the same as a regular spout 6 12% Yielded a little more sap (up to 10%) 11 22% Yielded a good amount more sap (11-25%) 15 30% Yielded a lot more sap (26-50%) 14 28% I was drowning in sap (51%+) 3 6% Question 26
Do you feel that the Check-Valve Spout Adapter Didn't use 0 0% Flowed for a lot shorter time than my other spouts or my neighbors spouts 1 2% Flowed for a shorter time than my other spouts or my neighbors spouts 1 2% Flowed about the same amount of time as my other spouts or my neighbors spouts 5 10% Flowed a little longer (1-2 days) than my other spouts or my neighbors spouts 12 23% Flowed a lot longer (3-7 days) than my other spouts or my neighbors spouts 13 25% Flowed after all other spouts had stopped 16 31% They're still running 4 8% Question 27 Next season I'll Not consider trying the Check-Valve Spout 0 0% Try the Check-Valve Spout for the first time 0 0% Stop using Check-Valve Spout Adapters 1 2% Use them in about the same percentage as this year 6 11% Increase the percentage of Check-Valve Spouts in my operation 14 26% Put Check-Valve Spouts throughout my operation 10 19% I had Check-Valve Spouts in all my operation this year and will again next year 22 42% Question 28 This year I tapped Way too early (more than 2 wks before the sap ran) 0 0% Very early (about 2 wks before the sap ran) 3 6% Early (a week before the sap ran) 9 17% Right on time 19 36% A bit late (1-7 days after the sap ran) 19 36% Really late (more than a week after the sap ran) 3 6% Still haven't finished tapping 0 0%
Question 29 For me, the advantages of Check-Valve Spouts are I didn't use Check-Valve Spout Adapters 0 0% Allows me to tap earlier without losing yield 19 16% Takes away the uncertainty of when I should tap 19 16% Provides me more sap 32 28% Provides a higher income for same number of trees 25 22% Keeps me from having to change drops or lateral lines 15 13% Other 6 5% ID If "Other", please specify Survey 1512991 allows me to shut off my vacuum at night or when saps not running and the holes stay clean. 1513121 hard to tell on a short season 1531453 will try check valve spouts again next year,so far not impressed! 1513168 Our system is fairly new and tight - and we have liquid ring pumps with VFDs - so they stay on all the time. The advantage we see with CVS are the quick freezes (laterals before trees) and the unforeseen (pump failure, lateral damage due to squirrel, weath 1530996 Season ended too soon to see full benefits 1531345 hopeing that sap would not get sucked back into the tree 1545002 Seemed to keep running longer during an unusally warm season. Would have tapped earlier if I could. Question 30 In terms of sap yield, did you feel you Didn't get your $ worth out of the Check-Valve Adapters 5 9% About broke even 9 17% Got my $ worth 17 32% Got more than what I paid for them 13 25% Got way more than what I paid for them 9 17% Question 31 If a Clear-Straight Through Spout (CST) were available with a Check-Valve, would you
Prefer the original version that fits a Stubby 19 36% Prefer a Clear-Straight-Through version Check-Valve 9 17% No preference 25 47% Won't try either type 0 0% Question 32 Would you recommend to your friends who are sugarmakers that they try the Check-Valve Spouts? Yes 51 96% No 2 4% Question 33 Do you have any suggestions for research projects we should consider? Be specific. Text Answers (15) Performance at different vacuum levels. Also turning vacuum on and off during warm period, how will it affect the performance. We are prone to extended periods of warm weather in Ohio. I'd like to know if there are any means to extending early sap runs by doing things like making artificial snow and creating a deep snow pack in a sugar bush. Southern New England does not usually see more than a foot or two on the ground come March so I Test niter levels in red maples vs sugar. maples from same bush Consumer taste test on RO syrup low conc, high conc and no ro syrup -effects of larger diameter tree to tree tubing, that allows sap to break inside line and flow, therefore transferring vacuum to each tap hole more effectively.- get them so they separate from the stubby easier I know there was something I had wished had more research on but I can't recall it at the moment check spouts need work. we had a bad season & had balls sucked down lateral to totally stop flow of sap. Don't know how for how long & how much sap we lost due to plugged laterals. comparison of vacuum pumps. LR, vane, water, oil cooled. See which one maintains high vacuum best as leaks develop. effect of high vacuum on small trees( I would like to see some studies with washing the line with the tap still in the tree on a check valve system and a study on the pressure load of the system by pressurizing the system and seeing at what pressure the check valve or the connection between th 1.Clean vs not clean sap lines. ie: water cleaned lines end up with green algae vs vinegary sap without algae. 2.Effect of tree gases on vacuum. I had low vacuum at end of season with little sap and lots of gas. 3.Reason for low sugar content this year. Found them to be very sharp on your hands when being removed. Need to find a better way of holding ball in adapter. I for one would like to know more about leaving mainline and laterals out in the sugarbush
year after year, it seems when a complete new system is installed, the first year is pristine, its all "down hill " from there the sap quality gets worse no matter h Just keep doing what your doing. If there is a way to make the check valve spouts cheaper and better that would be great. We had a bit of an issue with a few spouts cracking and breaking, but percentage wise it would be a fraction of a percent. Perhaps y A better locking system for the CV and stubby. I am hoping research was done with cv's on gravity so I can compare my results. Expand >> Question 34 Do you have any other comments? Text Answers (15) The CVA's preformed as represented. Especially the last week of March, when we had a very good run. However, this was a very short season. I will be watching how they perform over a long season. Also we had to change vacuum pumps half way through the seaso This is a bad year to judge the check valve adapters, at least here in Connecticut. The season started out frozen longer than usual then it turned incredible warm for too long and we had too few freezing nights. I made only 9 gallons of syrup on 400 taps I usually tap the 1st week in Feb. Due to deep snow that wasn't possible. I can not wait to see how CV's will work when I have a normal start time and whether they will run over six weeks. My guess is that they will run beyond 6 weeks and that is just what Keep up the great work Dr. Perkins! Used 3700 check valves on 5-10 yr tubing. 22-24" vac. tapped those trees last. sap flow decreased significantly 1 week earlier than other 8000 taps. turned pump off one day earlier than other 8000 taps. Yeild on CV spouts.33 gal/ tap. (same average we hav overall happy, but they did gum up. You add a lot of knowledge to this site We will try check vavle spouts 1 more year, then decide weather they are worth the time, so far not! check valves need a little tweaking in how they fit with the new Leader stubbies. Separated difficulty during cleaning. I really appreciate all info posted by Dr Perkins and proctor research center. I am extremely interested in new high sap yielding technology such as cv adapters and any other new technology. The ball in the cv adapter does seem to get stuck in the multifit it was really hard to rate the cvs this year. reasons 1 i have 50 taps on buckets and never got a good run all season 2 if i had not had vac i would not have made any syrup at all Please if its not too much trouble publish the results of this survey on your website and announce the publication on mapletrader.com Like the idea however the season was short and warm and we left our vacuum on for longer then normal each day or didn't shut it off for over a week at a time. I don't see much advantage for the check valve if you leave your vacuum on all season. yes, this was not a very good year at all to test or try anything new, so some of my answers were not very accurate, we only made about 25% of our normal goal, so it was not a very fair test of the check valves. I don't measure sap volumes. I back calculated using my syrup production and assuming 2% sugar content. I produced about 1.2L/tap of syrup. Producers near me, 30-40 mile radius, were talking 0.25-0.4 L/tap (buckets, tubing with no vacuum and vacuum tubing Expand >>
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