Ruined!!

[pamaple]

Well I came close the other night to disaster but now it's finally hit. I am a part time mailman and today happened to be ones of those days I had to work. I hauled 400 gal of sap to my camp this morning at 6:30 and throw some wood in my evaporator to keep it warm till I get off at 3:30. I thought I had checked to make sure I pulled the plug between the front and back pans this morning but I guess I didn't. The sap was 1 1/2" deep when I left and my brother just went to check it since he has off he was going to haul wood. Well it cooked dry. Burnt to a crisp he says it's totally black the joints are melted it's all warped and twisted. So now I either need to find a 3x5 front leader pan or say the he'll with it and just sell what's left and forget about it. Anybody know where I can get one or interested in the back 12ft drop flu pan call me 814-442-7525

[adk1]

Well I came close the other night to disaster but now it's finally hit. I am a part time mailman and today happened to be ones of those days I had to work. I hauled 400 gal of sap to my camp this morning at 6:30 and throw some wood in my evaporator to keep it warm till I get off at 3:30. I thought I had checked to make sure I pulled the plug between the front and back pans this morning but I guess I didn't. The sap was 1 1/2" deep when I left and my brother just went to check it since he has off he was going to haul wood. Well it cooked dry. Burnt to a crisp he says it's totally black the joints are melted it's all warped and twisted. So now I either need to find a 3x5 front leader pan or say the he'll with it and just sell what's left and forget about it. Anybody know where I can get one or interested in the back 12ft drop flu pan call me 814-442-7525

Why would you add wood to the evap when you were not going to be there? Yikes!!!!!!!!!!

[pamaple]

I thought it would just keep it warm till I got there. It's all new sap nowhere near syrup and there is a 400 gal tank full of sap to feed into it. I know it was stupid now but too late to go back and change it. Ill never do it again that's for sure. I haven't priced the pan yet but it's not gonna be cheap!

[adk1]

I thought it would just keep it warm till I got there. It's all new sap nowhere near syrup and there is a 400 gal tank full of sap to feed into it. I know it was stupid now but too late to go back and change it. Ill never do it again that's for sure. I haven't priced the pan yet but it's not gonna be cheap!

yeah and thats if you can even get it in time

[Meridian Maples]

Don't bite the bullet yet.. You should be able to find a pan, at least its not the flue pan. I think everyone that has made syrup through the years has had a similar mishaps. If everything went as planned it would get boring. Its all a learning experience. If the boxes are good you may be able to find someone that can make you a new pan. There's lots of guys making custom pans that can probably fab one if you have the old one. You could ask Jim Schumacher for an estimate??

[tuckermtn]

I think Leader is pretty good at emergency requests. But again you'll pay for it...

[BobU]

Really sorry to here of your "whoops", I wrecked a pan years ago, pretty sure that I won't do that again. But I'm pretty sure I'll find a new way to goof things up though.

Try to stay positive, The guys on this site will have some good ideas, maybe someone out there will know where there's a pan for you.

[michiganfarmer2]

I thought it would just keep it warm till I got there. It's all new sap nowhere near syrup and there is a 400 gal tank full of sap to feed into it. I know it was stupid now but too late to go back and change it. Ill never do it again that's for sure. I haven't priced the pan yet but it's not gonna be cheap!I think Im gonna be sick.

I have the same evaporator. I priced a new welded stainless pan from leader last year. they told me $9000

[michiganfarmer2]

OH! It wasnt the flue pan. WHEW!

[mapleack]

That's a real shame. You might be able to get ahold of A&A metal in ulysses and get a new pan made quick, don't know. At any rate they'd be an affordable option. Find someone to sell your sap to until you're back up and running.

[Thad Blaisdell]

I have the same evaporator. I priced a new welded stainless pan from leader last year. they told me $9000

Call WH supply to get a price on some new pans..... I bought a flue pan and front pan for a 6x14 for $9100...... beeeeeauuuutifull set up.


(802) 868-0941 ask for Matt

[Rhino]

Sorry to hear that but don't throw in the towel, lots of bad stuff happened to us through the years and i know the "ta hell with it all" feeling but start makeing calls and checking on traders, maybe you can find a pan for the arch you can borrow or somehow use your flue pan to do most of the work and find a flat pan to finish off what you take out of the flue pan. Sounds like a pain but syrup season only comes 30 days out of the year and you can make some $ to offset the cost of a new front pan. Good luck.

[pamaple]

Call WH supply to get a price on some new pans..... I bought a flue pan and front pan for a 6x14 for $9100...... beeeeeauuuutifull set up.


(802) 868-0941 ask for Matt


$1,249.00 + shipping and can have it to me 5-7 days. Sound like a decent deal?

[whalems]

Sounds like a very good price. I paid more than that for a 4x4 pan. Good luck, Mike

[Haynes Forest Products]

Two years ago I did the same thing as far as the transfer valve. I cleaned out the pan in the morning and filled with the almost syrup and started the rig. Went to cleaning the shack and all was humming along. Checked rig 3 points down so I went out and started cleaning bulk tanks. Wondered why my building was starting to smell like a wood fire:mad: Ran in the shack looking up at the rafters only to see the 2 finish pans fully engulfed in flames:cry: Hit the burners and sprayed with water and put the fire out. TRANSFER VALVE CLOSED:emb: Now if you look at my photo bucket you will see a flag on the handle. When its closed you cant walk past the evap. I have 3 brand new pans waiting for my next attempt. I will be using auto draw with shut down switch and alarms. I understand how you feel. Its not a badge you want to earn so you can call yourself a sugarmaker. Call Jim he is fast and reasonable.

[mapleack]

$1,249.00 + shipping and can have it to me 5-7 days. Sound like a decent deal?

That's a real good price. Paid more than that for a 3x3 last year. Another trader in PA, Jim Brown, just got a rush pan from them as well, he sounded quite happy. Good luck.

[pamaple]

Well to make my day even better on my way home from work to my camp I rolled my wife's trailblazer on it's side and smashed it all up. We got about 2" of ice sleet and snow this afternoon and the roads were horrible. I can't wait for this day to be over. I still haven't made it to the camp to see how bad my pan is.

[michiganfarmer2]

Well to make my day even better on my way home from work to my camp I rolled my wife's trailblazer on it's side and smashed it all up. We got about 2" of ice sleet and snow this afternoon and the roads were horrible. I can't wait for this day to be over. I still haven't made it to the camp to see how bad my pan is.

if it wasnt for bad luck you'd have no luck at all.

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

Henry might buy the sap off you in the mean time. He buys it from a guy for $0.35 a gallon from one guy at 2% sugar. lower sugar lower price. Higher sugar higher price. Talk to him so your sap doesnt get wasted. And i am sorry about your mishaps. Hope things go better for you.

[Bruce L]

I think you may have taken my nickname of "Lucky",earned from blowing up 3 snowmobile engines in one season.Good luck with your pans,things have to turn around for you.

[Friar_Athanasius]

Paul from Stainless Steel Creations http://stainlesssteelcreations.net/ does great work quickly and for a very good price.

[gmcooper]

Sorry to hear about your day but I think you may have set the record for a bad day on the Trader.

[pamaple]

Well here is the pan
http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss105/KristopherT84/6b0c9663.jpg
http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss105/KristopherT84


I'll add some other pics of the car in the morning.

[3rdgen.maple]

I just got done in another post telling a guy to not use the plugs in the pans after putting the thing to bed. The little time it takes to get your gradient back isnt worth the chance of what just happened to you and many others because a valve was closed or a plug was left in. I made the same mistake but Because I will not leave the evaporator if there is even a hot coal in it I caught it in time. But if it was my dad boiling and I left the plug in it would of been a different outcome. The only and only time I plug is when I clean the syrup pan and need to take it off the arch. I think if I was you right now, I would line all the walls in my bedroom with pillows and just stay in there for a few days so I couldnt hurt myself. This is truly a bad bad day. I wish you all the best luck in the days coming.

[tomslusher]

Well here is the pan
http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss105/KristopherT84/6b0c9663.jpg
http://i566.photobucket.com/albums/ss105/KristopherT84


I'll add some other pics of the car in the morning.

Sorry to hear about your luck, or lack there of!!

Are you using RR ties to cook with? And if so, how do you cut those down to size. I have a buddy that got about 15000 ties when the railroad replaced them and he wanted to use them in his wood boiler but cant make more than 2 cuts without ruining his chainsaw chain.

thanks,

tomslusher

[pamaple]

Sorry to hear about your luck, or lack there of!!

Are you using RR ties to cook with? And if so, how do you cut those down to size. I have a buddy that got about 15000 ties when the railroad replaced them and he wanted to use them in his wood boiler but cant make more than 2 cuts without ruining his chainsaw chain.

thanks,

tomslusher

Lol no not cooking with rr ties. I buy them from the rr and sort them in different grades and resell them wholesale. If you want to cut them use a dawn dish soap bottle with soapy water in it and spray it on the chain as you cut and then you can cut about 10-12 ties in half.

[Bucket Head]

Very sorry to hear about your bad day. Everyone here has ruined a piece of maple equipment and roughed up a motor vehicle. Maybe not on the same day though...

Things will look a little brighter with a replacement pan. And replacement vehicles are easier to find than pans, lol.

Remember the old Dorito's commercial with Jay Leno? He say's "Crunch all you want, they'll make more". Well, same thing with vehicles. I tell this to everyone that has an accident to try to lighten the mood. As long as your o.k., its all good. Shopping for a new pan and a new car is more fun than a hospital stay.

Good luck with the new stuff!

Steve

[3rdgen.maple]

Im going to have a nightmare about burning pans tonight. This does remind me of a vehicle acident involving the one and only me. It is kind of funny in hindsight however,well only a small part of it is. I have this great desire to drive a supermodified open wheel racecar. Well one day I get this phone call from a raceshop that I am friends with and he says to me, you need to stop over so we can talk, I have a new car and one driver so the old one needs a driver. He didnt even finish before I was in the Durango and on the road. As I was pulling in the driveway this motorcycle comes hauling donkey behind me and failed to see me 3/4 of the way in the driveway. You need to picture a raceshop, 10 guys sitting in lawn chairs with a beer in their hand in front of the shop and this motorcycle from out of nowhere plows right into the side of the SUV. The dude flys through my side rear window and out the other side. The owner of the race cars casually walks up to me before I can get out of the vehicle and says, nevermind your bad luck and I dont need any of that right now half joking but a tad serious as well. Racers are supersticous and he wanted no part of me getting in that car after seeing that. I was more upset over the lost chance than the vehicle. Oh dont get me wrong we were all by that guys side on the motorcylce in seconds and deeply concerned about his well being who's outome was not good.

[peckfarm]

After my brand new stainless tank hit the ground in the wind storm and after blowing the hydrostatic drive in the tractor I turned to the horse who lives in the stable next to the sugar house and told him...if sugaring were easy everyone would do it and we wouldn't make any money.

Dig in and make it work we are all cheering for you.

James 1:2-4

[maple flats]

Peckfarm, I never saw the part about ss tanks and hydro's in James when I read it!!! Ha!!!

[pamaple]

Well the pan is really rough but holds water between the dividers. My question the bottom is really warped and rippled as much as 1/2"-3/4" dips in the pan. Would the syrup still move through it or not?

[mapleack]

If you run it deep enough, probably but it'll make darker syrup and have a tendency to burn. If the pan is welded you may get away with hammering some of the warps flatter.

[holstein]

ah no worries burnt my 2X2 pan yesterday warped it, burnt it:cry: got mad at it, thought about selling it, then today after an hour with a wire brush cleaned it up. boiled on it today didn't get any syrup because we had to sweaten the pans again syrup is dark anyway so i will find tomorrow how it flows through with 1 inch warps. cuz tomorrow we boil again

[nace]

i don't know how well this might work but... when i lived in south dakota we had a hail storm with 6" hailstones. a man at a body shop told me that they removed the dents in vehicles by heating the metal then laying a slab of dry ice on it and it would pop out. i believe they used a torch at each dent or small area but i dont know how hot they had to get it. as far as the scorched discoloration, try a vibrating sander with very fine paper. i found a piece of stainless 40"x40" which has a 3/4" lip around it and it had a piece of plywood glued on the inside ( it was used as a raise up portion of counter ). i had to burn out the wood which discolored and warped the metal. i scraped off as much as i could then used the sander and looks great. i am going to cut it up and use it for dividers in a homemade pan. the slight scratches could be buffed back to mirror finish but i'm not going to for dividers. it's still quite shiny. i hope the dry ice works if you try it. by the way, i'm a postal worker also and i'm quite gruntled not disgruntled;)...nace

[Sugarmaker]

Wow not good on the burnt pan! Sorry to hear that and your accident too.
In one of your pictures it looked lit you had a plug that melted.? Are you thinking of saving the pan?
Let us know. It looks pretty chared.
My pans are very bad, they have been burnt and warped, but if you run deep enough you can make syrup.
Holding water is a good thing. Must be welded pans.

My neighbor Keith Talbot burnt his front pan to a crisp on Wed. and now has a new 2.5 x 3 front pan in place. Guess he forgot to open the valve between the rear and the front pan:(

Chris

[Haynes Forest Products]

Sounds like you all need to get a flag on the transfer valve handle before it happens to you. I wish I saw all the horror stories before I burnt mine.

[Low budget maple]

Well my plug was in as I was finishing a batch in the front pan. The flue pan must have been too close to syrup and POW !! Burnt bad. Warped a little. Any tricks out there to help get the tar off ??? Any suggestions greatly appriciated. Or did I just make shiny toy into a black turd ??

[Friar_Athanasius]

Is oven cleaner considered a no-no to the sugaring community?

[Haynes Forest Products]

My flue pan is coated in it as we speak. Both sides its the best at soot and works well on the crappity crap on the inside. I think its food grade too:cool:

[michiganfarmer2]

I think its food grade too:cool:

:lol::lol::lol:

[Low budget maple]

Thanks for the info guys. Put 4 cans on it last nite and it hardly touched it this am. Considering muratic acid but very hesitant with food. I will do a ton of reserch before I go that route. If any body has input on the acid please do tell. That sick feeling in my gut has not left yet and about ready to call it quits for the season !!

[adk1]

really just getting started up here. will be the first half way decent week!

[pamaple]

well I am hard at boiling today so we will see how it turns out. Going to try and get through this week since the weather doesnt look good after tonight. lows in the upper 30's and highs in the 50's for the end of the week :(. then I will have time to shop around for a new pan and get my new camp built. And do some new car shopping. the insurance company said its totaled so my wife is bugging to go get a new one now.

[mapleack]

Thanks for the info guys. Put 4 cans on it last nite and it hardly touched it this am. Considering muratic acid but very hesitant with food. I will do a ton of reserch before I go that route. If any body has input on the acid please do tell. That sick feeling in my gut has not left yet and about ready to call it quits for the season !!

Go get this http://www.tractorsupply.com/cattle-handling/dairyland-milkstone-remover-acid-rinse-2214079 mix it up strong in the pan. It should take alot of the junk loose, and it's obviously food grade.

[Low budget maple]

Thanks mapleact. That milk stone has a base of phosphuric acid. Found something close to it and after 5 hrs of scrubbing and rinsing my fingers are raw but I am not putting water in the air. Thanks again !!

[Low budget maple]

I ment to type now. Not. Not. Sorry. Worked great !! Thanks again

[danf26]

well, i am grateful to find this thread. i am sugaring for a friend this week while he is out of town, and i burnt his pan on monday night. whoopee! let me tell you that surely helps me not feel totally incompetent with sugaring (i hope you can sense the sarcasm). but, i know i am not alone in this experience. i hope there are really skilled and smart sugarers out there who have also burnt a pan before (this thread surely seems to say that is true).

i didnt fully burn the pan - the level never got to empty. i was actually there, mostly, when it happened. i had only ever boiled once before, and was "experimenting" with how low the sap level should be on the flue side of the pan. known now in retrospect, i let it get too low, because all of a sudden, parts of the pan had no sap over them, and i underestimated how quickly a serious burn can happen even with just little bits of pan exposed. it was a failure of judgement, not attention. anyway, there are a dozen small leaks or so.

the owner's away for the week, but he knows about it. im not skilled enough at soldering to fix a problem like this, and i so badly just want to take the thing to a welder and have them make it all better. fix the boo boo. but, im not a wealthy man, and, the pan was used and on its way out. the owner sounds like he thinks the time has officially come. i ish it werent because of this though, and was just beacuse of regular wear and tear.

his pan is small, a 2x4, but with the flue pan and finish pan all in the same unit. i guess because of the complexity of this design, he wont be able to get a pan like this again, and i feel sad to have contributed so significantly to this loss.

may i learn from this experience, and not let it stop me from sugaring for the rest of my life, and may i some day look back on all this and smile. that day certainly hasnt arrived yet.

[PerryW]

I've burnt my front pan twice bad enough to make it leak twice over the last 20 years. If the pan is ruined already, you might try your hand at soldering if you can't find someone to fix it. I fixed mine last year with a propane torch, and regular lead-free plumbing solder and flux. It's tricky, but if you clean off the metal with a wire brush on a drill and use lots of flux, it can be done.