Go for the 5/16” as it gets the same results with less damage to the tree.
You can get 5/16” and 7/16” diameter spouts. This is for light tapping - nothing heavy duty necessary. The bit should be the same size or slightly smaller than the diameter of your spouts, so when you tap it in, the spout will be flush with the wood. More specifics on trees you can tap here. In fact, you can tap many other types of trees including Birches, Black Walnut, and Black Walnut. The others just have slightly lower sugar concentration so you’ll get a little less syrup. Sugar Maples are best, but any Maple will do.
(More to come on this.) What Supplies do I Need for Maple Sugaring? Tree (Supplies can be used year after year.) We also identified the most efficient way of processing small batch maple syrup. We kept the supply costs down to about $25. However, a small-scale maple syrup operation could produce the most expensive half gallon of syrup you ever had if you don’t watch the supply and energy costs. It provides the SATISFACTION of bringing your own pure maple syrup from tree to table through this remarkable collaboration between man and nature.An open grown tree is capable of producing one half gallon of syrup in a season vs. That big, beautiful yard maple is actually BETTER than the woods maple for producing maple syrup.Tapping a maple tree is EASY and doesn’t harm the tree if done properly -many have been tapped for over 100 years.Why be all-or-nothing about the maple syruping? Why not try it now and get a little experience? He was right. Last fall Urban Husband pointed out that we had been living underneath the canopy of a big, beautiful maple tree for 5 years. It’s also my go-to baking sweetener, since unlike white sugar, it has a number of health benefits. Pure maple syrup is essential to an authentic breakfast experience. I had been long awaiting the day when we owned land with some woods so we could partake in that truly American maple sugaring tradition. This blew my mind: “Trees growing along roadsides, in lawns, or in open settings, where their crowns have grown large without competition from other trees, generally produce more and sweeter sap than forest-grown trees,” according to Penn State.