- This is Mark Isselhardt, maple specialist
with University of Vermont Extension.
This is a Vermont Maple Minute.
Although bucket spouts are still available,
most spouts used in the maple industry
currently are plastic and designed to be used with vacuum.
Spouts are constructed with food grade nylon
or polycarbonate and are smaller in size,
more like 5/16 of an inch diameter
than earlier spouts, which were 7/16.
Increasingly, spouts are generally intended to be used
for one season and are then disposed of
or recycled and replaced with a new spout each season
to minimize reductions in sap yield
caused by microbial contamination.
Spouts are generally one piece, but may also be made
in two parts, referred to as the stubby,
which has the tubing attached, and an adapter,
which connects to the tree.
These can be mated together
when used during the season.
This has been a Vermont Maple Minute.
I am Mark Isselhardt, maple specialist
with the University of Vermont Extension.