2x6 Patriot Info

[PrimitiveOperation]

I'm looking for any info or opinions people have about the Leader Patriot 2x6. The set of pans are a few years old and are on and older arch that needs work. Our operation truelly needs a larger and more modern evaporator and this one has come along.

Specifically:

What can I expect for a reasonable evaporation rate with or without a blower?

These pans are listed as a 7.5 inch flue while other brands are listed at a 7 inch, is this a big deal over all?

We've been making syrup for several years on an old grimm lightening ; would this newer rig be an easy transition to learn to use?

Basically anyone who has one please add your likes/dislikes.

We want to gather some info before we make such a large and long term purchase.

Any wisdom would be greatly appreciated...Thank You

[Sugar Daddy's]

I have had my patriot 2X6 set of pans on the new leader arch with a blower for 2 years now. I have 450 taps and have been very happy with it. I usually produce a gallon per hour (average evaporation rate with my blower is anyware from 40 to 55 gallons per hour depending on how you fire it). An extra 1/2 inch on the flues does not seem like a lot but any extra surface area helps. I think this is a very user friendly set up as this was my first real setup and I had no problem getting it set up and going on my own.

[johnallin]

I have a Leader Patriot 2x6 with raised flue pans. This is our second year and have had no trouble at all, in fact compared to the 1/2 pint I ran this is a piece of cake. We have 135 taps and this keeps up with no trouble at all.

No blower and average so far this year, is 30 gallons an hour. That blower sounds like it sure kicks up the boil rate though.

[TimJ]

A simple area calculation yields an additional 48 square inches per flue. That half inch is an additional 7% more FLUE surface area, but not as much in terms of overall area. (I also suspect the heat transfer might be greater at the lowest tips?)

In any case, just multiply the number of flues by 48" and that will give you the additional heating area you get with the extra half inch.

It's probably good for a couple gph.

[JohnsSugarShack]

This is also my second year with my patriot 2x6 pans. I started with 80 taps and now I'm up to 140. Floats are very easy to set, averaging 25-30 gallons per hour as long as I pay attention to firing and not gabbing with visitors. When running 30 gallons per hour my external stack temp is about 620 degrees. This was an upgrade from a Leader half pint. Very happy with this setup.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Leader welded pans are very good quality. I have a set of 2x8 American pans and am very happy with them and have used them for 8 years.

[Potters3]

Very similiar to a Grimm lighting only welded instead of soldiered. I have run both very easy to operate

[PrimitiveOperation]

Great to hear what everyone says. After tossing the idea around I think we may go for it.

Thanks folks