Phaneuf 2x6 or revalution 2x6.5

[xyz5150]

I am looking to buy a new set of pans what would you buy a Phaneuf 2x6 drop flue deluxe or a Leader revolution 2x6.5 drop flue? I am leaning towards the leader set because service is important to me. The quality of work and price of Patrick's 2x6 is very impressive.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

If you want service, then get Leader. From all the complaints on here the past few years, Patrick and service definitely don't seem to be found within miles of each other, much less same sentence.

[3rdgen.maple]

You looking for pans or the whole rig? Patricks deluxe is the whole thing. The deluxe part is the stainless ach and stack. I love mine and will be trading it up here shortly. Leader makes good stuff as well and some like the service some dont. But I do have to ask just exacally what ever needs servicing on an evaporator, I have been doing this my whole life and never needed service on one before. They are very simple, a firebox and pans it is not like they have all these mechanical parts or an engine lol.

[xyz5150]

No just pans, i am looking at his 2x6 with the reverse flow option that is what i call deluxe sorry. What i mean by service is getting them in the same year or if i have a issue or a question getting a answer in the same year. My wife purchased a finishing pan from Patrick for my birthday last year it came 4 months late. I expected that from what i have herd here on trader but she was not as impressed. His work is awesome, but what if something isn't quite right will it be taken care of ?

[3rdgen.maple]

5150 I wish I could answer that for you. He has treated me well and that is all I can go by. Yes late is the norm but he has always returned my emails and answered my phone calls. When he delivered mine the hat on the top stack was bent and he was not happy but heck all I was going to do was straighten it out and too me it was no big deal. He said no way and when he got home he mailed out a new one. He even did me more than one favor without even asking him for it. If I listened to him in the first place I would not be trading up for a bigger evaporator either. I know some have not had the service and response he has given me but I do honeslty believe in treating people like you want to be treated. Either decision you make however is a good one with the 2 choices you have narrowed it down too. Good luck. Oh I will just also note that I am going with a 3x12 or 3x10 probably end of next year so I can get things in order at the sugarhouse first and I have already gotten the prices from patrick and gave him the specifics on what I want. So even though he is late I am very pleased with the end results.

[xyz5150]

Thanks 3rdgen thats what i needed to know. I own a small business and i agree with you 100% on treating people the way i want to be treated. I also have learned over the years a little slower pace isn't a bad thing either. My dad used to say " its easier to do something right the first time than to do it twice" the older i get the more that makes sense.

[3rdgen.maple]

Funny you say that cause when he delivered my evaporator the first thing he said was he was sorry for the delay but his father always told him better to be late with a quality product then be on time with a bad one. lol I do have to agree.

[farmermike]

Go with Leader, Patrick does good work but the service sucks! In May 2010, we ordered and paid for a new syrup pan for the evaperator we purchase from him a few years earlier. We emailed him in Aug. 2010 and was told, he'd have it done and shipped soon. Jan 07,2011 we were told it was being shipped right out. By syrup time the new pan wasn't here, Patrick wasn't asnwering emails or his phone. Finially after a month he answered his phone and said it would be shipped right out. He claimed he was having problem finding a shipper.
Well, this is the end of April and still no replacement pan or answers to our inquiries nor refund.
We are very upset and disappointed with him to say the least. Buyer be ware...

[brookledge]

I know I'll never deal with him. But that is my opinion. It is amazing to continue to hear all of the complaints from different people. But we are always looking to save a dollar and when someone like him dangles a good price infront of you it is suprising how fast you will take a chance.
Farmermike you certainly are not the first one to get burned by him and won't be the last. If you do a search on him you will find the list to be very long.
Keith

[Brent]

I had some problems with the hood on my Phaneuf 2 x 6.
Like the delivery, it took longer to fix than it should have, but he did it.

I've got a Leader 2-1/2 x 8 now. Wish I had stuck with Patrick's. Their the best crafted rigs you can buy and his prices are about the best I've seen too. Order early and keep at him for delivery.

[heus]

Speaking of hoods Patrick just quoted me a hood and preheater for my 2x6 for an amazing 2150.00 plus 250 for shipping! I dont think so!!!

[3rdgen.maple]

I had some problems with the hood on my Phaneuf 2 x 6.
Like the delivery, it took longer to fix than it should have, but he did it.

I've got a Leader 2-1/2 x 8 now. Wish I had stuck with Patrick's. Their the best crafted rigs you can buy and his prices are about the best I've seen too. Order early and keep at him for delivery.

Can you explain why? I would think that a 30x8 with a steamaway would get you better gph than the 2x6. Or is it for another reason?

[heus]

Brent's statement speaks volumes for the quality of Patrick's rigs.

[3rdgen.maple]

Speaking of hoods Patrick just quoted me a hood and preheater for my 2x6 for an amazing 2150.00 plus 250 for shipping! I dont think so!!!

What????? Must be a mistake. It has to be.

[heus]

I dont know? I was so shocked that I didnt even reply to his email.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I'm not sure what order they should be in but quality, price, service, innovation and communication from the manf. all enter into the decision to buy. Price, quality and innovation are easy to see up front. Delivery dates and service are promises that you can only hope to get. once delivered its all about the service. What will need service on a raised flue evaporator. Seals, gaskets, floats, valves ? If you got the arch then the door, blower and cables or levers are next. I have never needed service that wasn't self inflicted so I was happy getting the parts that were in stock from my evil wholesaler/supplier.

So I put them in this order
1) quality and price
2) innovation
3) delivery date
4)service and communication

[3rdgen.maple]

Umm those arent serviceable items those are replaceable items;)
Oh I would put them in this order
1 quality
2 quality
3 quality
3 quality
4 price

[Dill]

And the rest of us will still keep scratching our heads as to why people would still buy from Patrick after the numerous threads from people asking where their stuff is.

[Revi]

He delivered to us on time, but our sugarhouse is right on the way to Old Orchard Beach and it was in July. I went and visited his shop up in Ste. Marguerite. He turns out a lot of evaporators from a small space. He is quite a worker. I imagine he's got some help now. It was cool to see it taking shape. We have a 2x6 and it seems to work well for us.

I know a lot of people that have had trouble getting evaps on time. Some other friends got a 3x8 from him. I think being only about 4 hours away helps.

[3rdgen.maple]

And the rest of us will still keep scratching our heads as to why people would still buy from Patrick after the numerous threads from people asking where their stuff is.

Keep scratching I guess cause we all got the stuff. lol Im my opinion he has set a high standard in a quality evaporator and I yet to see any conventional evaporator or pans for that matter that have come close. Kids wait all year for christmas to come but it does come and they are always pleased too.

[allgreenmaple]

It took some time to get the pans for my 3' x 10', but the quality is unquestionable. Well worth the wait.

[Haynes Forest Products]

If the floats sink and the gaskets leak and your valves wont turn then its a service issue and you hope they will communicate. Then if it's their fault you will find out how good the service is. If you want to buy new parts thats easy they always want income so they will jump at the chance to replace any item if your footing the bill. But will they say lets get the rig going the item is on the way NC:)
If that fancy arch with the nice doors warp and leak air back into the room within the first season you will find out how good the company is.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Price on the hood and preheater might be right as his prices have went up a ton in the last year or two. Guess when you have more demand than supply, you double your prices.

[Brent]

If you were buying in Canadian dollars his prices haven't moved much at all. The exchange rate has changed 15-20% in that time. Neither you more me nor him can do anything about that.

[Z/MAN]

My 2x3 pan was only a few weeks late and the quality more than made up for the wait. I would buy from him again in an instant.:D

[Sugarmaker]

Phanuef:
Sounds like high quality, long lead times, fair service and high quality. In our world of fast paced want it now by it from China. (and I know I am this way) we tend to forget these are hand crafted pieces of stainless art that we boil syrup in.
I would be interested to know how many rigs Patrick has produced? Sounds like a lot from the posts I see with his name in the signature. If he is doing most of the fab work himself to keep the labor cost down then he is probably doing an exceptional job keeping the majority of his customers happy.
I know the work I put into a big stainless box last year! This stuff takes time!
He sure gets a lot of trader time:)
Chris

[3rdgen.maple]

Is funny you say that Chris cause I often wonder if this is not his way of getting alot of press time so to speak. Them more he is talked about the more pr he gets and the more his name is remembered. Which probably gets him more orders lol.

[Sugarmaker]

Save a lot on advertising:) Just kidding! He must make a good product!
Chris

[brookledge]

True. He is probably laughing his !!! off since everybody talks about him. To me it seems like he has been in business long enough to know how many orders are yet to be built and how long it will take to get them done. So when he knows this why does he promise something to be built and delivered by a certain date when he knows there is no way he can deliver. No one seems to dispute his quality so he doesn't need to lie to his customers. Tell them the truth and I think he would sell as much but would not be critisized like he is
Keith

[3rdgen.maple]

True. He is probably laughing his !!! off since everybody talks about him. To me it seems like he has been in business long enough to know how many orders are yet to be built and how long it will take to get them done. So when he knows this why does he promise something to be built and delivered by a certain date when he knows there is no way he can deliver. No one seems to dispute his quality so he doesn't need to lie to his customers. Tell them the truth and I think he would sell as much but would not be critisized like he is
Keith
I cant speak for him but I will just say what I think ends up happening alot of the time. He gets an order for say Ohio, then a month into the build he gets another one in Pa. then maybe one in NY. So he waits till he gets all the builds done and loads them up and delivers. Hence the reason the last one that ordered gets his on time and the guy in Ohio waits the longest. Just the way I see it. Either way a simple phone call would go a long way.

[crawflyer]

I just ordered a custom set of pans from Patrick. I am aware of some who have had a long wait for delivery but I have heard too many good things about his quality to worry about waiting.

[Sugarmaker]

Hummmm, There getting closer to home. Maybe I should call him:)

[heus]

Chris thats actually probably a good idea.
His pans are just amazing. You cannot tell where his welds are. Anything that goes wrong I can fix or get fixed locally. The pipes are standard sanitary fittings that you can buy from the maple catalogs. Same with any of the valves. The floats seem simple enough that they could be repaired or replaced locally. Thats why Im not concerned about service from him. I ordered in March and did not get mine until December. It had me on edge but as many said it was worth the wait.

[heus]

I cant speak for him but I will just say what I think ends up happening alot of the time. He gets an order for say Ohio, then a month into the build he gets another one in Pa. then maybe one in NY. So he waits till he gets all the builds done and loads them up and delivers. Hence the reason the last one that ordered gets his on time and the guy in Ohio waits the longest. Just the way I see it. Either way a simple phone call would go a long way.

3rdgen,
I truly believe that is the case. When he delivered mine it was the second to last on a week long delivery. He had delivered some in NY and was heading to Columbus, Ohio after delivering mine.

[cowboy729]

I have to tell you that I got nothing but the best quality and service from Patrick when I picked up my pans today. They looks absolutely amazing and I can't wait for next year to try them out. I gave him a call on Tuesday to ask him about pricing and what kind of wait time that I would expect. He said they would be ready today and they were.

[Daren]

It has been a long time since I received my evap but yes I did receive it a little later than I had planned or been promised, but still way in time for proper setup before the season. He was always excellent about receiving or returning my calls, and I had several email interactions which he seemed to answer fairly quickly. I have no issues with how I was treated and found him to be very pleasant when he delivered the goods. Yes, he not only builds them but he is the delivery guy too! I am sure he would love to have tons of help, but all that help costs money and that would make it hard for him to compete with the size and scope of the other major manufacturers out there. I love my rig thus far and would deal with him again in an instant. I have a small circular scortched area in one of the channels on my syrup pan that I would love to address, but I can justify replacing it just yet......I still dont know how I got that type of scortch in the first place, but I guess it happens (duhh...it did right?) anyway, for what it is worth, I know he tends to be late, but if you order far enough in advance, it should not matter if it is a month or two late. I agree with those that have posted how nice his gear looks. It Does!