2x4 arch dilemma ... tired of finishing on the turkey fryer. ideas? PICS INSIDE

[WoodButcher]

ok guys . its almost that time !
maybe some of you have seen my post on my home made 2x4 arch i made last year (link in sig)

its worked out great. i used it last year for the first time. i got about 8gph and thats ok with my projected 30-60 taps .

anyways , check the pics below to get an idea on what i have .

its a 2x4 arch with a 2x4 pan with 3 separate chambers.
all chambers boil hard and well , and i boil for about 6-8 hours worth before i start to think about drawing something off.
you see, i can boil for 6 hours straight and not have enough sweet sap accumulation to make my thermometer go past 214 at the lower left corner where i draw off! you figure thats about 40-50 gallons of sap boiled off... so somewhere in 3 gallons of liquid it takes to cover the bottom of my pan 3/4" deep is a gallon of sweet almost ready to go .

my frustration is i thought this setup - boiling sap and chasing it with fresh preheated sap - would allow me to draw off on the opposite side very close to a cup or so of 215 degree sweet into my fryer for easy finishing... :mad:
right now i just draw off since the sap turns a copper color i think , "hey, what the heck... ill finish on the fryer!"
then im sitting there with about 3 gallons of liquid boiling for about 1 hour on the dang turkey fryer! grrrrrrr

it just doesnt make sense . from what ive tested, the dividers in the pan seemed sealed ok, so no fresh preheat sap would sneak into the last chamber area.
my boil is good, and i usually wait till the pan has about 1/2" minimum of sweet before i draw off.
to do so i just chase it with the preheater sap valve open full blast, and then open the draw off valve all the way until i see a clear color change in the last chamber... then i close the draw off.

i went through a couple of those propane grill tanks last year and i just see it as pointless when i have a roaring fire in the arch .

so - short story too long :lol: - i was thinking of doing either two things:
1. weld a divider chamber into my current pan in the front , and make it 2' wide(obviously) and 12" long. that would be my finishing pan . of course i would remove the dividers out of this 24"x12" finisher as well . then i would make some type of piping to go from the sap pan to the finish pan with a valve on it .
for this to work wouldnt i need the rear sap pan to be about 1" higher than my finish pan so gravity would bring the sweet to the front pan? probably a stupid question .

2. the other option (and i like this one) is to purchase a pan like the shiny one posted below. it should fit right into my arch with minor modifications(if any) and would increase my boil rate from 7gph to 15-25gph!
the pan is made in 3 sections :
the rear section is the sap entry location 6" wide x 24" . The middle section is the drop flues section with 8 flues of 5" deep 24" x 24" section. The front section is the syrup pan section of 18" x 24" .

one issue.... its 1100$ ! ouch! i would need to sell my pan and preheater pan for over 400$ to make it worth it . . would be nice though ...
and if i need to use turkey fryer to finish syrup with this rig i need a new hobby :D .

so , theres my dilemma. what ya think?
thanks !!!!

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/2010-03-06181139.jpg

[WoodButcher]

here are more pics ....
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/2010-03-21145002.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/2010-03-09164021.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/2010-03-07171446.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/2010-03-07181312.jpg

[WoodButcher]

EXPENSIVE PAN

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/evappanideal-1.jpg
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/evappanideal2.jpg
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/evappanideal3.jpg

[Farmboy]

I made syrup on a half pint last year. It's only 2X3 flat pan. It psible to use what you have just keep feeding sap in and boiling till you get to 220. And get yourself a good hydrometer and don't draw off tilll that says it's syrup and a hydrometer is always right.

[Flat47]

I made syrup on a half pint last year. It's only 2X3 flat pan. It psible to use what you have just keep feeding sap in and boiling till you get to 220. And get yourself a good hydrometer and don't draw off tilll that says it's syrup and a hydrometer is always right.

x2. Just gotta have patience. With a small pan and relatively low evaporation rates, mixing and diluting is par for the course. But don't let that get you down. You've got a good looking outfit that will work very well. You did a great job building it.

[steve J]

I have had up to this year a 2x3 and you got to remember how much sap you actually have in that pan to start with and at 6 hour at best you got a 1.5 gals of syrup but its being deluted by the much higher quantity of sap. I will be boiling with a 2x4 this year but my guess is it might be 10 plus hours before I actually am going to have something close to syrup at the draw off.

[WoodButcher]

thanks guys for the inspiration... and pocketbook savings :) .

i wonder if i should bring the pan to the local welding shoip and have them run a tig bead over all the original welds. the pan divider welds are good, but im sure there are a couple voids where the sap is seeping into the sweet...
or are you guys saying thats unavoidable and youll have that regardless of how sealed the chambers are?

i guess last year i had this dream where i could simply run this thing for 10hrs , and i could see 219 degrees of yummy goodness piling up in the last 1/3 of the pan.... all i see is sweet at maybe 214, no higher. oh well...

[Ausable]

Hi WoodButcher -- A little friendly advice from an Old Guy - Quit trying so hard to make things happen and just let them happen. The rig You have should work ok - But make sure it is level. Figure out a level to operate your pans at and slowly add your preheated sap to the pans as the level drops from boiling and syrup draw off. Follow the advice the other guys gave You - the Hydrometer rules - use it and listen to it. I didn't think I needed a Syrup Hydrometer and I made poor syrup for a long time.. You will have a great year - just get a feel for your rig..... Hey - from my little 2' x 5' - I don't draw off finished syrup either and I also finish on a turkey fryer - but - it usually is there in about 30 to 45 minutes....... Mike

[michiganfarmer2]

I made syrup on a half pint last year. It's only 2X3 flat pan. It psible to use what you have just keep feeding sap in and boiling till you get to 220. And get yourself a good hydrometer and don't draw off tilll that says it's syrup and a hydrometer is always right.

thats my thgouht. Just make syrup right there in the evaporator

[cvmaple]

I roll up a clean towel and use it as kind of a dam to keep the sap and near syrup from mixing and move it through the channels slowly. It keeps most of the diluting to a minimum and probably saves a lot of propane. It is a good idea to use tongs to move the towel as it is a burn hazard. This might work for you and that is a nice looking rig you built.

[Gary R]

Make sure there are no gaps under your dividers. You can't have any mixing. Maybe try a 1/4" needle valve to regulate the sap from the preheater. It will keep a nice even flow of sap that's easy to adjust. It takes a lot of boiling to get to syrup. Mines 2X4 1/2, boiling almost 15GPH, I can forget about drawing off the first boil. I usually draw off a couple degrees under syrup. This year I'm going to get closer to save more on the turkey fryer. That's a nice looking set up. Be patient:)

[WoodButcher]

Well the 3/4" spout on the preheater works fine to get the drip to as little as I want. I'm gonna have them go over the welds on the dividers I've decided. I know of one pinhole spot where the bead was stopped and started again while changing rods.

I've got patience... its just me and some choice beverages all day...maybe I should get a dog!? :)
thanks for the compliments on the rig. I went off of the blueprint plans floating around the trader site and made very small changes in the name of physics and strength.

[peacemaker]

heres the deal u are drawing off to fast like said a few times u need to be more patient
if u boil down a days worth of sap u should only have a gal of syrup
if a half inch in your pans is 3 gals that means probably your 3rd boil u should reach enough syrup to start to have a sweet pan the dividers will sugar over under them and seal dont worry about that ..... tiny wood firing steadily not loosing a boil at all will stop your mixing problem
... so basically u fill your pans the first day and boil till its all in .. i wood cool down draw it all off filter was h pan then next day fill pan with that stuff and start again boil till its all in .... then drain filter wash and fill next day buy now u should have some nice sweet ...on the third day fill the pans and start your boil watch the temps and and when u get to like 218 219 carck open and slowly draw set the intake at the same trickle as u draw and u should be able to steadily draw ...

[HHM-07]

I tend to agree with asauble your rig needs to be 100% level or you will hve all sorts of trouble, you should be able to make syriup on that rig, Hit it hard and go home early.

Dick

[maple flats]

I agree, let it boil in the evaporator. After you get it re welded, use the evaporator, that runs far cheaper than the propane units.
My first rig was a 2x3 and I got it to about 218-219 and then finished on the stove in the house. At this point my finish boil was usually 30-45 minutes +/-. Then I graduated to a 2x6 and got a canner. I took it to about 217-218 in the evap and then finished in the canner. It used lots of bottled propane to do this way (20#ers) Then I got my 3x8 and I finally, after 2 years of using it found the best way. I now boil it to 220 or even 221 and draw it off as slow as needed to attempt to do a constant draw. Then I filter it and put it in the canner. I bring it back up to temperature and test density and when ready I grade it. For density, I add distilled water very slowly and mix until it is right. I usually try to do batches of 10-12 gal and rarely add more than a cup or 1 1/2 cups to hit the proper density. I use an accu-cup and hydrometer. Then I can or bottle it.
This method has saved me lots in propane.
As to how much you boil before getting syrup. When I had my 2x6 I boiled between 22-25 GPH and I never fired it up until I had 75 gal sap. I boiled it down and shut things off and went to bed. The next day I added what new sap I had and again shut down. It usually was at least 10 hrs of boiling before my first draw, sometimes even 12 hrs. Then the pan is sweet enough to draw more regularly. I changed flow direction every day and at each change it again takes longer before you set up the gradient but it does happen. At one time I even drew off about 1/3 of the more dense and added it to the new draw off side to get a faster gradient but that made very little difference. Now I just switch fill sides and boil as hard as I can. The temperature will be there when you have boiled away enough water. As long as your pan deviders are sealed to prevent cross flow just let it boil. On the end of the season you will draw off lots more as you reduce the last of the pan contents. This is where it will all average out.

[WoodButcher]

Peacemaker and Maple Flats . . .

now it makes sense .
if 5 gallons of sap fills the pan exactly 1" deep , and 1/2"-1" deep is ideal for a rolling boil , i would need about 3 days of boiling down and then reboiling sweet to even get to draw off on this pan .

heres the assumed scenario since i boil a lot on weekends :

if i boil for 8 hours friday and reduce 56 gallons of sap, i would have a total of a tad over 1 gallon of syrup floating around in the pan .... along with sweet in there thats needed to keep the proper liquid level in the pan (3 gallons).
i would let it go , cover the pan , wake up saturday and start the boil up again , and adding fresh sap as i go . this time i would be boiling for 12 hours ,thus boiling 80 gallons or so off and theres another 1.5 gallons of syrup ready to go in the mix...
by the time i finish boiling on late sunday, i should have no problem drawing off to 219-220 on the unit... and then i would conserve propane! woo hoo !!
makes all the sense now!

when i would boil down 12 hours of sap , it would only be about 1.5 gallons of syrup in the whole 3 gallons of liquid in the pan . and thats why those 3 gallons on the turkey fryer took forever. duh :emb: .

question: do i really need to drain the sweet and chase it with tap water on friday and saturday nights and filter it ? or can i just simmer down the fire , and cover the pan at night ? i do have the ability to reverse the flow of the pan if need be .

[danno]

Very nice rig you have there and agree with the comments made by others. Those draws do seem to take forever, but they will come with time and lots of wood. I did notice a nice simmer in your pics, but no hard boil. Do they boil harder? If not, you may want to introduce a little forced air - you'll eat more wood, but increase your evap and move to syrup quicker.

[WoodButcher]

I did notice a nice simmer in your pics, but no hard boil. Do they boil harder? If not, you may want to introduce a little forced air - you'll eat more wood, but increase your evap and move to syrup quicker.


Hey Danno ,
yes , those pics were taken when i was getting used to the new rig . after i started to split the oak, maple and hickory into wrist size pieces and installed a damper in the 8" pipe it made a big difference... though its more like when you boil water in a pot for pasta... its not bubbling up like lava or anything though... just boiling about 1" tufts from the sap's surface...normal stuff.

before that i noticed i was only getting a hard boil in the center divider , and the others were slightly less.
i am fighting a 14-16 gauge pan though .. quite different than the 20-22 gauge commercially used. itll last longer but be a pain to keep a boil . wonder if theres a way of thinning the bottom out... probably ruin it and get "hot spots" everywhere :cry:.

when i would start with 5 gallons of cold sap (1" deep) in the morning , it would take about 45 minutes to start to boil .

anyways , i thought of the forced air idea long and hard. was going to cut a hole in the rear of the firebox area just below the grates... in other words, directly across from the ash pan door . i then would hook some type of hose to it , maybe 3" in diameter and about 18" long and then attach a computer fan of some sorts to the end so its away from the heat of the firebox.
bunch of info on this site for that.. just never got to it last season . any ideas throw em this way . . . i will probably do that this year though .

[3rdgen.maple]

Im going to throw another option at you. Awhile back I had a 2x7 with 5 seperate SS pans on it all piped together. All flat pans cant remember the brand but it was not a homemade deal. GPH was around 12. We would boil and boil for like 6 to 8 hours and seemed to get nowhere in a long time. If we kept after it we would eventually draw off syrup right off the evaporator. The problem was the last pan was the same size as the rest and it just took alot of sap to process into syrup to draw off in any productive amount of time. Syrup was always medium at best. My grandfather decided to remove one pan and had a nice finishing pan 12inches by 24 inches and about 10 inches high made. We shoved all the pans forward and welded a plate in the back to fill the gap. So it ended up with 4 sap pans all plumbed together and a finishing pan as a seperate unit. We ladeled into that and started making lighter syrup and finishing right in it. Yes we drew off less at once but it drew off more often with a better grade and there was no worrying about sap diluting the syrup pan and we just kept the back pan sweet all year. Nice thing was we could also control how big or small a batch we could make.
So with that story a thought for you would to be to shorten your pan and ad a seperate finishing pan on the front. You get a few things, constant sweet pans, a batch drawoff, can finish right on the rig without running out of time and pans mixing till you fire it up again. But if you do it and dont like it forget I mentioned it lol but I will say it was the best improvement we made to that rig. One last thing is that pan you are looking into sure is nice looking. Its a phanuef I beleive and he does bueatiful work but it just might not make it to you by sugaring time.

[3rdgen.maple]

Well I went back and read some of your questions so I will shoot some of my opinions to them at you.
No you dont need to drain and filter your pans every night.
Those seams should sugar over and not cause mixing unless there are huge gaps.
Some tips It looks like you only have 6 feet of stack. You should have double the length of your pans. Open up the ash door and let the thing breath more. Keep the ashes cleared out. Throw the damper in the garbage let it breath. Only other thing I can think of at the moment is when you get close to syrup it is going to want to bubble out of the pans. I think it looks like your sides are 4 to 6 inches high? You will have to keep a close eye on it and have defoamer and an emergency bucket of sap on hand if it gets out of control. Im starting to like the higher sided seperate syrup pan even more. Good luck.

[michiganfarmer2]

Some tips It looks like you only have 6 feet of stack. You should have double the length of your pans. Open up the ash door and let the thing breath more. Keep the ashes cleared out. Throw the damper in the garbage let it breath.

I agree. Let it breath

[peacemaker]

the stack is to short for sure and would split even smaller what about grates ?
i on filter ever night cause it keeps the sand down u dont have to but will help with the sand ...
and i would ad your blower put it in the draft door for now to see

[WoodButcher]

i can add 3' more to the pipe no problem , making it 9' ... i think they were 3' sections?
anyways , in regards to ash door... ya , its wide open all the time. barely any ash to scrape out after a weekend of burning.. which is good .
as for the damper.... i experimented long and hard and a TON of the heat was exiting the chimney and was thinking , hmmm .... maybe i can slow it down a tad just so it hangs around the pan a bit longer..
so when i put the damper plate at 11 o'clock in the pipe it slows it down just enough to help the boil out on the pan edges some.
i will leave it in , and just increase the draft by making the stack taller . just my 2 cents from heating a home solely with wood my whole life. i know its different than a home burn, but the damper works for me. in theory, i could have used a 6" stack with no damper and it might have the same results as my 8" stack slightly dampered. again, its a slight damper. maybe it helping is in my head? :lol: but ill confirm it again . regardless, i can render it useless at any time by tilting the plate to 12 o'clock.

as for grates... oh i welded up 1.5x1/4" angle . was worried about warpage... thought of many ideas: street storm grate, rebar, etc.
the angle is as straight as the day i welded it .
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2010%20SUGAR%20SEASON/2010-03-05172227Large.jpg

[peacemaker]

that should be good then only thing u can do is try it

[WoodButcher]

after i boil lets say a days worth of sap down to a few gallons of sweet, how long will that sweet last till it loses its flavor or potency?
im sure it loses some overnight..however minimal it may be.

im just wondering if lets say i was busy monday , but took mondays sap and tuesdays sap and boiled it down tuesday night and put the sweet in a 5 gallon bucket with a sealed lid (i like the ones from home depot), buried it on the north side of the shed surrounded by snow. i do that same thing maybe wednesday too , and store it.
could i then use all that sweet and boil it down on lets say saturday and not worry about?
ive always wondered about the shelf life of sap , if kept cold and away from sun .
you see, i collect all week long , and then boil the monday-friday harvest on saturday and sunday... much like everyone here with a normal job im sure ;).
i kept the sap in new garbage cans with lids and made an igloo around all 3 cans to keep em cool . worked great. no cloudy sap or haze at all . but i know the big rig boys are boiling the sap 3 minutes after it leaves the tree :o .
i bet ya sweet will stay longer than raw sap... more viscous and hardier i think.
just always thinking and reinventing... thats all .
this year will be different though as the arch is now at my dwelling and im bringing the sap to it . so i can stay up later and boil longer, pretty much every night.
and then i can just collect the sweet from every night and have a boilfest on the weekend!

[peacemaker]

you where doing so good now we lost u again .....sweet will not last as long freeze the sweet every night if u want but if u are gonna be able to boil every night dont ...

[Flat47]

Sweet will mold really quickly, moreso later in the season when the daytime temps are higher. I've had good success drawing it off, filtering it, and storing it in a good quality drum with snow packed around the drum. Keeps it nice and cool until next boil.

I'd stay away from garbage can storage. Those things are made from all sorts of stuff that isn't for contact with food.

[SeanD]

Putting the sweet on ice/snow until you are ready to boil again is fine. It's how most of us backyarders manage this job and our real job. The only thing that will affect the flavor is if you have microbial growth, but that will be kept at a minimum if you have it chilled to 32 degrees.

Your plan is not different than what the big riggers deal with when there is a big freeze up for a number of days. Many will leave the sweet in the pans depending on how hard the freeze up will be and others will light a fire once a day just to kill anything that thought about growing in there. Some people pour it off like you are talking about and use it as an opportunity to clean the pan, etc.

Keeping sweet or sap cold and boiling when your schedule allows is pretty common. You do what you can.

Sean

[Ausable]

Dang -- Wood Butcher -- You are making it sound so darn complicated I'm almost afraid to do a boil myself. You are not a College Professor or a Woman are you? Either one is ok and I have respect for both - But both the woman and the professor reap dividends from making the simple complicated. We are all just a mixed bag of people - with a common goal - collect maple sap and reduce it down to make maple syrup by boiling the heck out of it and knowing when to stop. Now that is pretty simple - even for me. You can buy - use - and make all the gadgets you want to do this with as quickly and efficiently as possible -- but -- the master plan is pretty simple as I already stated. You are doing good -- just relax a little and it will all fall into place -- Mike

[WoodButcher]

You are not a College Professor or a Woman are you? Mike

Ouch Mike .... Ouch . :lol:
but i understand. i was distracted as i was typing that . but no , im not a woman or teacher... though i went to school to be a teacher :emb:.

i think sometimes i assume everyone has an over-analytical mind like i do . when i do something , i dont just 'do it' . i need to see it from every angle and make sure my view is the best . thats all... call it what you want .

NOW , thank you Sean and Flat for answering my diluted question !
all that i was wondering was does sweet or raw sap stay better overnight? simple enough, eh? sorry for complicating it guys

[3rdgen.maple]

You lost me with the garbage cans lol. I keep sweet right in the pans for a couple days at most if I see a gap longer than that I boil it all down and start over. I personally dont want to use older sap with fresh and take a chance of downgrading but thats just me. I think Woodbutcher you just need to go tap some trees and take it as it comes and ditch the garbage cans please.

[WoodButcher]

ditch the garbage cans please.

theyre already ditched. have a new idea now .

but heres a tip to clear things up....

from what ive read on this forum over the last couple years, many newbies start out by storing their freshly collected sap in newly-bought garbage cans or the like ... they dont have stainless round bottom storage tanks their first year or two of boiling .
i agree, i dont like anything plastic , really. but it worked great and the finished product tasted fantastic!
i never put sweet in the cans . as stated in post #1, i would boil and finish on the fryer that day . .. no leftovers.

heres my new idea . i bought a few 55 gallon drums - food grade plastic so dont scold me - and plan on putting 2 of them on a small 3x4 trailer . i would leave the trailer where i collect sap till i have about 75-100 gallons to fill it . pick it up with the truck hitch and bring it home to boil . below is a pic to give you an idea, or click the link below to see my old post: http://www.mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=9497

[3rdgen.maple]

Im not against plastic just against non food grade products in the sugarhouse. So I tip my hat to you for ditching it and making the upgrade. Looks like that setup should work out pretty good.

[Flat47]

Im not against plastic just against non food grade products in the sugarhouse. So I tip my hat to you for ditching it and making the upgrade. Looks like that setup should work out pretty good.

x2. Very well said!

[Ausable]

Ouch Mike .... Ouch . :lol:
but i understand. i was distracted as i was typing that . but no , im not a woman or teacher... though i went to school to be a teacher :emb:.

i think sometimes i assume everyone has an over-analytical mind like i do . when i do something , i dont just 'do it' . i need to see it from every angle and make sure my view is the best . thats all... call it what you want .

NOW , thank you Sean and Flat for answering my diluted question !
all that i was wondering was does sweet or raw sap stay better overnight? simple enough, eh? sorry for complicating it guys

OK - Guess I was being a little mean and I apologize. But - my point was - make maple syrup and you will tweek and tinker and things will get better and better as you go. There are many mis-guided humans that think they can and must be perfect and they chase their tail and run in circles and never have much fun. Just do your best and forget perfect and You will make some mistakes. So what - mistakes are a learning tool for us foolish humans.
OK - enough of that Keep Sap in the shade and as cold as possible when storing prior to boiling - raw sap is kinda like wine - the Sun is the enemy. Seems like You are doing a good job of that already. Like the other Guys are saying - food grade plastic works just fine. Yep - sweet sap keeps better than raw sap in cool weather - When it warms up though - there are all kinds of little spores floating around in the air that love any type of liquid with sugar in it and if given a chance like to start fermenting or turn to vinegar etc. So - toward the end of March or early April (at least in my area) You gotta keep an eye on it.
Yep ---Knowledge is Power--- also helps in making Maple --- lol -- Mike

[Turtlecreek]

Another way that I Found to keep my sweet cool is to use soda bottles.

After I'm done boiling at night I let everything cool down a bit then put a plexiglass cover over my pan to prevent any critters from comming in. The next day, or later that night depending how fast things cool off, I take 20 oz soda or water bottles that have frozen water in them and put them in my pan. I have a 4 section pan so I put in 1 or 2 per section. This keeps everything pretty cool, I also like to cover the plexiglass with a blanket or something so the sun shining through it doesn't warm things up or taint the sweet.

This also works for sap storage, depending on how big of a hole you have in you barrel or what ever you use for storage you can use gallon milk jugs full of ice to keep things cool.

I'm not sure how kosher this is but all of the plastic is food grade so that should be good. Does anyone else do anything like this?

[3rdgen.maple]

Not in the pans but I have thrown 1 gallon frozen water jugs in the holding tank a time or 2 in the past when temps are getting a little to warm. Problem is they melt so darn fast I just quit doing it.

[peacemaker]

save a few sap buckets and freeze some early sap in them then u can drop them in

[WoodButcher]

boiled down 50 gallons last night, let the sweet sit, and 60 gallons tonight , made just over a couple gallons of syrup right on the evap too . boiling 2 days worth of sap really worked great , it allowed syrup to actually reach the height of the dial thermometer needle so i know when to start the drip .

added a 400 cfm blower too . .. . needed to neck it down half way though .. otherwise it was blowing blames out the loading door :mrgreen:
thanks again

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2011%20sugar%20season/IMG_20110220_152330Large.jpg

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2011%20sugar%20season/IMG_20110220_152344Large.jpg


heres a video

http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2011%20sugar%20season/th_VID_20110220_152443.jpg (http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z104/italianjeremy/Sugarin/2011%20sugar%20season/?action=view&current=VID_20110220_152443.mp4)

[TC matt]

where'd you get that blower fan?

[WoodButcher]

i posted a wanted ad on craigslist .. . i do all the time for stuff . the guy buys used wood burning stoves and furnace parts.

it had a square box attached to the intake side and i took that off . he said it was from a forced air gas furnace. its a 3300rpm 2.0 amp fasco blower. one of the best names out there. got a good price too
right now i cover the inlet hole up halfway with a piece of sheet metal that just rests on there . works fine instead of a fan speed switch or rheostat. its just too powerful full blast.... though i have it full blast when i just put wood in . i can get the cold arch boiling in about 30-45 minutes now .