block arch?

[skillet]

I have a question for you guys that boil on a homemade block arch. How much distance do you guys have between the bottom of you pan and the ground/bottom of the arch? My arch is 19"x63"s with a 6' 8" stack with a damper built into the pipe. Do you guys have fire box or just push the fire back under all the pans.

[Groves]

We use 3 layers of block, just like you. We use the steam table pans, so the lip goes at the top of that 3 block layer, and the pan extends down into the fire.

We also put some scalloped landscaping blocks at the entrance with sections of black iron pipe across them. That's our grate and it lifts the fire and allows air underneath. It works very well. We use 3 sections of the landscape brick. I don't know if they're 8 inches or so.

All of our fire goes on the grate, and the rest of the heat goes along the pans to the back where the stack is.

http://idisk.me.com/mcgroves/Public/pics/a1.jpg

[skillet]

went with about a 5- 6"gap between bottom of pan and sand. That is once the
6"deep pans are dropped in. What do you think the ghp rate will be on this set up. They are 2- 19"x63" side by side arches with flat bottom pans which are 16 guage stainless steel.

[TapME]

you want 3/4 to 1 inch under the pan to make them boil like crazy. 4'' is to much. 2 on the other hand would work well. Look at my pics and the way I made my acrh out of blocks. Going on the 3 year with no broken blocks and works great. Have fun

[sams64]

Great thread. I have my trees tapped and need ot get going on my evaporator. This is exactly what I had in mind and its good to know I'm not way out in left field with my idea.

sam

[vtjeeper]

you want 3/4 to 1 inch under the pan to make them boil like crazy. 4'' is to much. 2 on the other hand would work well. Look at my pics and the way I made my acrh out of blocks. Going on the 3 year with no broken blocks and works great. Have fun


I think mine was about 2-2.5 inches of space below my 2x6 flat pan on blocks. I tried blocking it off to about 1-1.5 inches with a piece of steel tubing at the back but it definitely boiled less so I pulled it back out. I bent a piece of metal to make a |_____| kindof shape, but flipped over, to make the raised part of the arch and left about 24-30 inches inthe front full height for the fire. my grate did not hold up past 30 minutes so I just kept crisscrossing my firewood pieces to let the air into the mix. I still haven't gotten it set back up this year, but soon

[Big_Eddy]

I've had 20 years of experience with the block arch (Not this year though - wow!!) taking it down and putting it back up each spring.

What I do is build the arch 3 blocks high and level it out. A pail of sand / gravel works well for levelling. Tip the block to the side, dump in some sand, lower and repeat. I make the arch 12" longer than my pans, and I use a flat plate on the back with a 7" round ring of flat bar welded to it to support the smoke stack.

I use solid blocks as I find they last better than hollow ones, but I have never bothered with fire bricks. Each year I lose a few blocks, but most last several seasons. Once the arch is built and level, I take some of the larger chunks of broken block from last year, and fill in the back of the arch to about 4" from the top. I just toss them in to promote turbulence under the pans.

I use a 16" deep angle iron grate, which I made up to fit the width of the arch, and place some half blocks in front of it on the ground, but spaced about 2" apart.

Once I have a good fire going, I slip a piece of sheet metal in front of the opening as a makeshift door. The sheet metal sits on the half blocks on the ground, allowing air to enter through the 2" openings. The sheet metal does a surprisingly good job of keeping the heat in and preventing a cold draft under the front of the pan, yet because it is slightly wider than the arch, the corners never get too hot to grab with a pair of leather gloves.

Over the year, I have determined that

Filling the rear with rubble is an improvement over just leaving it empty
Using a grate to get the fire off the ground and allow air under makes a big difference
Having a "door" on the front makes a HUGE difference
Keep the fire to the front. Pushing it to the back is a waste of wood.
Stoking it to the top and letting it burn down is not as efficient as tossing in a few smaller pieces more often.
A damper in the smoke stack does not do anything other than cause smoke to back up.
100 taps on a 2x3 flat pan is doable - but you will have a lot of late nights.
Rainy days without a roof are just not any fun.

[skillet]

ok, no guess on the gph rate with my homemade set up? Will know this saturday as we will do our first boil. What kind of rates did you fellas get. We just put out 70 taps on 3/6. The weather looks good this week. It may be a extra long day of sapping.

[TapME]

Hey Big Eddy I'm like you 10 years doing the outdoor thing and I agree it is getting old along with the block arch. I have a 2 pan setup with a flue pan in the rear and syrup in the front. We (saphauler and I) make or try to make 50+ gallons a year and struggle at time with the rig. But we have fun all year long doing it. Making a grate is a must, mine is 1/8'' angle with the angle up so it fills with ashes and keeps the grates cooler but the air needs to go through the grates to keep them cool. Burning soft wood also helps in my case. hope this helpfull to everyone.

[TapME]

ok, no guess on the gph rate with my homemade set up? Will know this saturday as we will do our first boil. What kind of rates did you fellas get. We just put out 70 taps on 3/6. The weather looks good this week. It may be a extra long day of sapping.

my setup does 30-40 depending on how hard the wind is blowing and how colsd it is. I know my gph goes down real fast if it's raining:lol:

[Greg Morin]

I've had 20 years of experience with the block arch (Not this year though - wow!!) taking it down and putting it back up each spring.

What I do is build the arch 3 blocks high and level it out. A pail of sand / gravel works well for levelling. Tip the block to the side, dump in some sand, lower and repeat. I make the arch 12" longer than my pans, and I use a flat plate on the back with a 7" round ring of flat bar welded to it to support the smoke stack.

I use solid blocks as I find they last better than hollow ones, but I have never bothered with fire bricks. Each year I lose a few blocks, but most last several seasons. Once the arch is built and level, I take some of the larger chunks of broken block from last year, and fill in the back of the arch to about 4" from the top. I just toss them in to promote turbulence under the pans.

I use a 16" deep angle iron grate, which I made up to fit the width of the arch, and place some half blocks in front of it on the ground, but spaced about 2" apart.

Once I have a good fire going, I slip a piece of sheet metal in front of the opening as a makeshift door. The sheet metal sits on the half blocks on the ground, allowing air to enter through the 2" openings. The sheet metal does a surprisingly good job of keeping the heat in and preventing a cold draft under the front of the pan, yet because it is slightly wider than the arch, the corners never get too hot to grab with a pair of leather gloves.

Over the year, I have determined that

Filling the rear with rubble is an improvement over just leaving it empty
Using a grate to get the fire off the ground and allow air under makes a big difference
Having a "door" on the front makes a HUGE difference
Keep the fire to the front. Pushing it to the back is a waste of wood.
Stoking it to the top and letting it burn down is not as efficient as tossing in a few smaller pieces more often.
A damper in the smoke stack does not do anything other than cause smoke to back up.
100 taps on a 2x3 flat pan is doable - but you will have a lot of late nights.
Rainy days without a roof are just not any fun.



very nice post thanks for the info!!

[Tonka Grove]

This was a very helpful thread. Thanks Big Eddy (and others). My brother and I are planning to build our arch this weekend. We're getting excited. If only the weather would warm up a bit.

Bill

[happy thoughts]

ditto what tonka grove said. Very helpful thread and thanks to all for sharing. We're getting more sap than the camp stove can handle. I'm adding a block arch to the honeydo list for the weekend. Don't know if hubby will thank you, though lol:)

imho this looks like a thread that should be made a sticky.

[michiganfarmer2]

when I started, I had a 3x3 flat pan and got about 10 gallons per hour evoration

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

I have a 3 by 5 steel flat section pan this year and i am getting 30 gph 50 on a good day. i have an old grate from a coal furnace. And a blower from a furnace. i fire with coal