275 gallon fuel oil drum evaporator

[3fires]

Well I finally got to put it to the test, made a gallon of syrup. As it is I get about 7 GPH out of it, but if i tend the fire proper and had a few more firebricks I could easily get 10-12.

Thanks to everyone her who offered tips and provided pics and details of their setups.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/shroomer69/Wild%20edible%20plants/Maple%20Syrup/SteamAndSnow.jpg

I feed from the left to the right and could possibly finish it in the far right pan.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/shroomer69/Wild%20edible%20plants/Maple%20Syrup/StagesOfSyrup.jpg

Once it gets fired up no smoke comes up between pans and the sap doesn't burn on the sides of the pans, but the scummy foam will if you don't keep it skimmed off.



Once the rear pans are empty I can fill them with water or just put this steel plate over the hole to keep soot from getting in the sap and maintain the draft.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/shroomer69/Wild%20edible%20plants/Maple%20Syrup/DownToTwoPans.jpg

If I tend the fire well all three pans will boil, but I'm no Olympian of the maple syrup world. I can barely keep up with two boiling.

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m50/shroomer69/Wild%20edible%20plants/Maple%20Syrup/3pansBoiling.jpg

The steel plate is big enough to cover the hole for all three pans, helps keep the rain and snow out, and it can be used in the off season for other purposes as well.



More pics of the firebox and such here: http://www.mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=10147 and at my photobucket page, link below.

[3fires]

Just an update if anyone's interested:

I put split bricks on the sides of the firebox to come up flush with the undersides of the pans, and added 6 splits to the ramp that leads back to the stack and am now getting 9-12 gph depending on how well I keep the pans and fire fed. Being real lazy I get 9. I put two aluminum turkey roasting pans on the back of the evap to preheat, they don't boil, but keep me from killing the boil.

I've made close to seven gallons on this and burned through just over a face cord of wood doing so. The evap is holding up just fine. The pans do burn on the sides, but no smoke leaks through, my middle pan sits on the lips of the outside pans and somewhat seals off the smoke. The aluminum foil prevented the sugar from burning so much, but made it difficult to remove pans. I keep the level in the pans at 3" except when removing them, that helps prevent burning and they still boil like crazy.

I'm no longer using the steel plate to cover the holes as I remove pans, but leaving the pans on filled with water for cleanup and such. Once I get down to 1 pan, I let the fire die back a bit and just feed in a stick or two to keep it boiling gently while I finish it right on the evaporator, no propane needed. Anything under a gallon might be risky as that'd put the strup level around 1" or less, it might burn?? But, I finished 1.8 and 2.2 gallons on it just fine, no issues whatsoever. You just need some good gloves to remove the hot pans from the fire. It takes about two hours to finish once all the sap is in the first pan, but I take it slow because I don't want to burn it, or have it boil over.

All in all, not a bad investment for under 200 OTD with bricks and all. The sugar burning on the sides is a drag, but it doesn't affect the taste, it just means less sugar in the pot.

[SevenCreeksSap]

I am intrigued by your layout here. I have the tank and am looking at how to start cutting. Maybe someone here knows if there is a difference in laying the tank on the side like this or cutting it from the top. I've seen both ways now and wonder which is better. I'm looking for a 2x4 pan with dividers so which way would fit that type of pan better?

[ehafkey]

I have mine upright and I made the cut right at the curve. This allowed me to keep the fire door alittle higher and easier on the back when loading wood.

http://mapletrader.com/community/album.php?albumid=45&pictureid=187

[Ausable]

I have mine upright and I made the cut right at the curve. This allowed me to keep the fire door alittle higher and easier on the back when loading wood.

http://mapletrader.com/community/album.php?albumid=45&pictureid=187

My Rig is just about like Yours - even to the Vogelzang Door. Mine is cut off at the top bend like yours and is reinforced with angle iron all the way around the cut for strength and to support the 2' x 5' devided flow thru pan. Have a homemade ash clean out door with a grate seperating the ash area from the burn area of the fire box section. I'm very happy with my rig. -- Mike

[Indiana-Jones]

My Rig is just about like Yours - even to the Vogelzang Door. Mine is cut off at the top bend like yours and is reinforced with angle iron all the way around the cut for strength and to support the 2' x 5' devided flow thru pan. Have a homemade ash clean out door with a grate seperating the ash area from the burn area of the fire box section. I'm very happy with my rig. -- Mike

What is your boil rate? I'm planning to build something similar. Why so tall? I have not found my tank yet, maybe when I get my hands on it I will understand, but it seems tall to me.

[Ausable]

What is your boil rate? I'm planning to build something similar. Why so tall? I have not found my tank yet, maybe when I get my hands on it I will understand, but it seems tall to me.

Howdy Indiana Jones - I'm embarrased - I don't know my boil rate. Next Season I'm gonna figure it out - Being retired and a Backyarder I didn't think to figure it out. The Rig is not really that High and I don't have to bend over and I like that. My wood burner grate is about 8 inches above the bottom which I covered with sand, I have fire brick up the sides and back held in place with heavy duty steel mesh welded to standoffs. My Grandson welded a small steel box to the back - near the top - with a flange to receive my 8" stack and works good. I can burn wood just short of three feet long in my firebox as the last two feet has a steel bent plate that mimics a small arch - only is hidden by the tank on the outside. My evaporator pan is homemade 2' x 5' devided into two sap pans 12" x 24" and 3 syrup pans 8" x 36"..... Mike

[Indiana-Jones]

Ausable, I found a free for the hauling oil drum and have it draining. It has been out doors it's whole life and it is rusty. I pushed a nail through the bottom.

I'm still thinking of how I'm exactly going to get this thing built. I have searched here in the Home Made section and looked at some other people's drum arches. Saw one that the guy cut half of the bottom out to make the ramp, looks good but man lotsa work. I'm just going to weld in a ramp

My goals are a continuous flow process and 12 to 15 GPH

Who makes a 2X5 dual pan set up for one of theses rigs.

The rain has stopped for awhile. OUT the door.

[Ausable]

Ausable, I found a free for the hauling oil drum and have it draining. It has been out doors it's whole life and it is rusty. I pushed a nail through the bottom.

I'm still thinking of how I'm exactly going to get this thing built. I have searched here in the Home Made section and looked at some other people's drum arches. Saw one that the guy cut half of the bottom out to make the ramp, looks good but man lotsa work. I'm just going to weld in a ramp

My goals are a continuous flow process and 12 to 15 GPH

Who makes a 2X5 dual pan set up for one of theses rigs.

The rain has stopped for awhile. OUT the door.

Hey -- Good Find--- If the bottom is real bad - could You flip it and make the bottom the top and cut that out at the start of the bend? Than re-inforce the edge - all the way around with welded angle iron - just a thought.

[Ausable]

Hey Indiana - Jones -- I think the boil rate of 12 to 15 gph is realistic. I was just thinking about how long it was taking me to pump out my storage barrels to my feed tank during a boil and I know I get at least that - not very scientific is it -- lol -- Mike

[Indiana-Jones]

Last season I had an 18"X22" pan cut into a barrel stove with a banquet pan across it for a pre-heater. I dipped sap from storage drums with a quart sauce pan. So, I was measuring a gallon and a half into the pre-heater about 3 times a hour. So with about 400 square inches I was getting around 4 GPH. I think?? The new setup will be 1440 sq. inches and maybe a flue pan.

I did get the top torched off of Old Rusty and trimmed the legs down to 6 inches, it was on 4 foot tall pipes. If I put the worst end to the back and brick the rest.
I need to get some sheet steel and angle iron and see how it goes. I'm planning to build a box across the back so the flue pipe won't take any space from the sap pans and then come up with some sort of blower.

I'm thinking that if I make a decent arch and buy a good set of pans I maybe set for a few years. Sorry that we have so long to wait for next season.

[Ausable]

I did the batch pan thing on a barrel stove for a lot of years and used a couple stainless pots for preheaters -- but it was slow. I use a steam tray pan for finishing my almost syrup on a turkey fryer burner now and it really works out. Have a valve attached on an end and I can draw off samples to check with a syrup hydrometer. When I bring it in the house now it is ready to can. My 2' x 5' flow thru evaporator is a flat-bottom - but - it keeps me busy - last year I ran out of sap a couple of times and had to chase it with water -- sure learned how it worked in a hurry - cause I didn't want to scorch the pans. One of my Sons and a couple of Grandsons gathered sap and brought it up to me - so - when I would start a boil I would have about 150 gallons to play with and when I had about thirty gallons in the feed tank would start to reduce the fire so I could put it to bed with sap and leave the pans sweet for the next boil. I think once you get your flow thru set up going - You will really like it....... Mike

[rookie]

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