CDL Maple Sugaring Resources
CDL equipment’s collection of production resources, including proper usage of tools and how-to guides for candy, cream, and other products.
Search Resources
Showing 21 – 30 of 129 matching resources
CDL Maple Sugaring Videos
Management and equipment videos from CDL.
Characterizing maple sap flows
Individual sap flow events are highly variable and dynamic, ranging from slow, weeping flows that last for days to short bursts of high flow that last for only a few hours.
Check-valve spouts vs. standard clear spouts
Leader Evaporator Co. Check-Valve (CV) spouts and adapters incorporate a small, free-floating ball which is designed to reduce or prevent backflow of sap into the taphole during freezing, when leaks in the tubing system occurs, and when mechanical releasers dump and introduce air into the system. Several studies over nearly a decade have compared sap yields from CV adapters and spouts to various non-CV spouts and adapters.
Choose wisely when selecting where to tap
Knowing when, where, and how to tap is critical to making good maple syrup and keeping trees healthy.
Comparison of the “Small” Spout with the Traditional 7/16″ Spout
The “small” spout, 19/64″ or 5/16″ in diameter, has been widely available to maple producers since the mid to late 1990’s as a “healthy” alternative to the traditional 7/16″ spout. While now in general use by producers in some regions, particularly those collecting sap by vacuum, the utility of these smaller spouts is still questioned by many sugarmakers, particularly those collecting sap by gravity. This article will review several studies conducted at the University of Vermont Proctor Maple Research Center comparing 7/16″ spouts with small spouts (for the purposes of this article, 5/16″, and 19/64″ will be considered equally as “small” spouts).
Compartmentalization: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding how Trees Grow and Defend Themselves
The purpose of this chapter is to describe a conceptual framework for understanding how trees grow and how they and other perennial plants defend themselves. The concept of compartmentalization has developed over many years, a synthesis of ideas from a number of investigators. It is founded on observations of trees injured in the field by wind, snow, ice, fire, animals, and insects, as well as during pruning, coppicing, sugaring, and other forest and orchard management practices. It is based on experimental studies of natural and artificial wounds with and without controlled inoculations with selected pathogenic and saprophytic microorganisms.
Cost of hitting stained wood when tapping
Avoiding tapping near previous tapholes is a common practice in maple production. This is because previous wounds create a zone of stained wood that extends slightly wider and deeper than the taphole, but extends upwards and downwards, often reaching 6-12 inches in length in each direction, affecting a volume of wood approximately 50 times (range of 15-150X) larger than the volume of the taphole (vanden Berg et al. 2023).
Detection and Correction of Taphole Leaks
How to find and fix leaks at or near the taphole in 5/16″ vacuum maple tubing systems.
Development and Testing of the Check-Valve Spout Adapter
The goal of this project was to find alternative ways to reduce microbial contamination of tapholes. One approach we investigated was to use a check-valve to prevent microbial contamination of tapholes by preventing backward movement of sap from the tubing system into the taphole.