What should i do???

[yukonhunter]

Thinking on getting a 2 x 4 evap from wf mason's Im just starting out, any suggestions or comments would be heplful. Oh yeah just bought a 10 x 18 shack with cuppola too!!! thanks guys

[whalems]

I bought a replacement syrup pan from Bill and can say that his craftmanship is excellent! There are alot of manufactures of small evaporators out there but I don't think you can go wrong with buying from Bill Mason. You can search this site for many positive comments about bills work but I dont think you will find any negative! Good Luck, Mike

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

how many trees do you expect to tap? how many can a 2x4 do? boiling is fun but when you do it day in and day out late at night then get up to go to work the next day it wears on you.
might think about a 2x6 can do comfortably 150.

[SeanD]

I have his 2x6 and I'm very happy with it. He's excellent to work with and his prices are very good as well. I've never heard, nor read a single bad thing about him or his products. I'd recommend him to anyone. I'm also a big fan of putting the money right in the hands of the guy who did the work.

As far as what size to get, the 2x6 gives you a lot of flexibility. I averaged 19 gph with my own flat pans. I only had 45 taps last season so I was able to boil a couple of times per week. I'm hoping to get closer to 90 to 100 taps for this coming season and I'll be able to easily keep up. If I go way beyond that I'll need get a flue pan, but that's not a big move compared to getting a new arch. The resale on a 2x6 is also really high if you do end up going a lot bigger. You'll probably get your money back.

The 2x4 pretty much tops out and you just can't get much more out of it.

Sean

[Ausable]

Thinking on getting a 2 x 4 evap from wf mason's Im just starting out, any suggestions or comments would be heplful. Oh yeah just bought a 10 x 18 shack with cuppola too!!! thanks guys

You were smart to get a 10' x 18' sugar shack - even if You make maple syrup as a hobby like I do. Mine is 12' x 14' after an addition and it is starting to look small again. I have read your posts and know You have been reading up on syrup making and that is good. You will be amazed at the amount of gear you will pick up in a few short years and most of it will be stored in the sugar shack in the off season. If You would give us all an idea of how many trees you plan to start off tapping and what you plan on working up to - it would make it easier to give you some suggestions --- Mike

[yukonhunter]

This year a plan on tapping around 50 trees. Im sure the more i do it i will expand. Thanks for the advice guys, Mario

[adk1]

This year a plan on tapping around 50 trees. Im sure the more i do it i will expand. Thanks for the advice guys, Mario
You sound like the way that I was planning on starting out two years ago. Now I am up to almost 200!

[Josh Nickles]

I have heard good things about Bills work but the pans look very basic. I would strongly suggest talking to Jim Schumacher(member on here). His pans are as good or better then the ones made by the major manufacturers for a price very close to the ones made by the guys building less elaborate ones out of heavy dull material. Just a thought. Here's a link to a thread with a few pictures of his work. When you email him he responds virtually immediately every time.

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=9999&page=6

[3rdgen.maple]

Whatever you do take a good look at what your tap count potential is before you buy a rig. When you say 50 we all know you will end up with 3 times that amount. I made a huge mistake of buying a 2x6. I outgrew it before it was setup and I knew better to begin with. 600 to 800 taps is alot of work on that baby. So look at your potential and buy the rig that fits. You can always get an ro in the future as well but if your looking more towards a traditional aproach do the homework. Number of taps, amount of time you have to boil, storage and space. If I was you and you had the potential for 3 to 400 taps I would jump on a 2x6 from the start. I am going up to a 3x12 this spring or the following at the latest. Tap count never stops going up in this madness we get invovled in.

[yukonhunter]

Yeah i already thpught of that, but with being a newbie, i feel overwhelmed with just hving to set the evap up. so i fig ill start out smallfor a few years, then hook one of my friends on sugaring and then upgrade lol

[PapaSmiff]

It seems that everyone I've seen post on this site upgrades to a larger evaporator when their number of taps increases.

But I've been thinking about this. Assuming you have the space in your sugarhouse and someone to help you, what's the downside of adding a second evaporator, instead of upgrading to a larger evaporator? I'm planning on building a 2x6 and adding an RO when needed. But if I decide to grow beyond my current plan, why couldn't I just add another 2x6?

[40to1]

Don't forget to add sap storage to the to-do list.

It's hard to juggle everything when the temperature's climbing to 50˚ after a freezing cold night. Having enough storage helps keep the stress-o-meter in the blue zone.

[Ausable]

It seems that everyone I've seen post on this site upgrades to a larger evaporator when their number of taps increases.

But I've been thinking about this. Assuming you have the space in your sugarhouse and someone to help you, what's the downside of adding a second evaporator, instead of upgrading to a larger evaporator? I'm planning on building a 2x6 and adding an RO when needed. But if I decide to grow beyond my current plan, why couldn't I just add another 2x6?

Good Question - I've wondered the same thing myself. Maybe it has to do with using less fuel - I don't know. But - two evaporators make sense to me - especially if they fit into your sugar shack and the big one dosen't. Or - you are purring along on the one 2x6 and the sap flow increases - You just fire up the second evaporator. The large commercial sugar houses probably have several monsters running at once -- LOL -- so why not several pee wees steaming along at the same time -- Mike

[3rdgen.maple]

A few reasons guys. First off if your a one man band its is hard enough keeping up with one rig let alone 2. I fire every 6 to 10 minute to get the max out of my rig x that by two and I would be overwhelmed. Not to mention your drawing off syrup on one and then wham the other rigs is ready. Just to much going on to take such chances of burning the pans up. The other thing is the price of 2 rigs verus one bigger one has to be more. Welding up 2 arches and 2 sets of pans would be more work and would be priced accordingly. The price on my 2x6 x2 is a couple thousand more than the 3x12 I got quoted on. The last thing that comes to mind is the amount of time to cut wood for 2 rigs versus a bigger one. Think about it you would be dragging a saw around alot longer cutting up 24 inch wood versus cutting up say 3 foot wood or 4 foot.

[Ausable]

Well -- You answered it for me - When it comes to boiling and finishing - I am a One Man Band and most of the time a bit overwhelmed. I do not want to watch and tend two evaporators by myself - Thanks for waking me up - Mike