Portable arch questions

[Balsam Hills]

Hi all,

I'm just a backyard sugarer producing 20-30 gallons of syrup/year. For years I've been using 8"x8"x16" concrete blocks for my arch to support a 2'x4' flat pan. I have to periodically replace blocks due to heat cracking. At the end of the season, I toss the cracked blocks and put away the useable ones. The upside is that it's cheap, removable, and functional. The downside is that it's inefficient, smokey, and cumbersome.

Does anyone have any ideas for an efficient, reasonably priced, portable arch? Either homemade or manufactured?

Thanks to all of you for your great ideas!

[Gary R]

That's a pretty good size back yard operation. I have a homemade arch in a mobile sugar shack. It works well for me. My cousin has a homemade arch on casters. He just wheels it out on his concrete drive and boils.That works well also. But, my opinion to get the most efficiency out of any rig is to get it indoors. A cold wind or rain will kill your boil. There's lot's of idea's on this site.

[whalems]

There is a guy that sells a portable evaporator on E-bay. I believe it is a 2x4 with a pre-heat pan. It is built on skis w/ tow hooks to move it around. He dos'nt seem to have any listed right now but I have seen them on there frequently. Hope this helps, Mike

[Balsam Hills]

Gary, do you have any photos of your portable operation. That looks like a great idea!

Scott

[buxtonboiler]

Check out my photobucket. I made my arch from an old heating oil tank and put swivel casters under it. I do not have a shack, so I roll this in and out of the garage. Works great.

[Balsam Hills]

buxtonboiler, very nice setup! Just a quick question, did you add an extension to the sap pan for the preheater. I can't quite tell how you have that set up. The arch is awesome. Nice work!

Scott