syrup pan question

[maplefarmer]

I have a leader 2x6 and don't like having to take the syrup pan off and reverse it. Would it be possible to make a 4 section syrup pan (2x3) instead of the 3 section it came with so i could reverse by plugs somehow rather than pulling front pan off. If i'm figuring right it now has 8" channels in the syrup pan, and they would have to be made at 6", is that too narrow or would this work? Any ideas would help.

[SSFLLC]

Did you check the revolution syrup pan. It changes over with a valve setup. Good luck. Keith

[wiam]

I have a leader 2x6 and don't like having to take the syrup pan off and reverse it. Would it be possible to make a 4 section syrup pan (2x3) instead of the 3 section it came with so i could reverse by plugs somehow rather than pulling front pan off. If i'm figuring right it now has 8" channels in the syrup pan, and they would have to be made at 6", is that too narrow or would this work? Any ideas would help.

My W.F. Mason 2x2 front pan has four compartments and has no trouble flowing.

[maple flats]

Yes there are several ways to do it. Check 4 section pans or same side reverse designs to fix that. WF Mason, Jim Schumacher, or Thor Inc can all do what you want, and far less cost than Leader or the other big boys. The big guys get a following and then they jack the prices way above what the little guys get. Very often the little guys equipment is even better than the big guys who are resting on their laurels.

[3rdgen.maple]

I said it before and I will say it again lol. Reverse flowing on a rig that 2x6 or smaller is a waste of time. There just is not enough surface area before niter builds back up before the old niter is cleaned out. Tried it questioned it and wont do it ever again. Let me rephrase that a bit. Its the size of the syrup pan that is the downfall to reverse flow setups. A 2 foot square pan just doesnt have the surface area. My best suggestion to anyone with this type of setup should consider getting another syrup pan. When the niter builds up just swap them out. While one is on the arch one is getting cleaned and ready to go. I clean or change out my syrup pan before I light a fire and most years thats all is needed. But there are a few years in the past where the niter was so bad I could get only 4 hours tops before a cleanup or a swap had to be made. I would personally be a tad concerned about having 4 dividers in a syrup pan that size. I can picture it getting to syrup in the last 2 channels and things going to heck real quick if you are not right on top of things. Just some things to consider. So now that I typed all that I think I just figured out that you have a 3 foot flue pan and a 3 foot syrup pan? If so just throw everything I just said in the garbage can lol.

[RileySugarbush]

3rd gen, I was thinking of trying this on my 2x6, but it has an over syrup pan, a 33 inch long 4 channel. Perhaps that will provide enough surface area. It seems to work when we manually rotate the pan. We do that to keep boiling during the long days, particularly when we have lot's of visitors. What do you think?

[3rdgen.maple]

3rd gen, I was thinking of trying this on my 2x6, but it has an over syrup pan, a 33 inch long 4 channel. Perhaps that will provide enough surface area. It seems to work when we manually rotate the pan. We do that to keep boiling during the long days, particularly when we have lot's of visitors. What do you think?

Trying what? I think a 3 foot or close to it pan the reversing would work a heck of alot better than on a 2 foot one. For it to work better on a 2 footer you would have to reverse the flow so often you would be fighting getting density at the drawoff. Tired it and it was just not worth the effort. I would think the key to the 3 foot pan would be the direction of the channels. Meaning if the channels run side to side in the 2 foot direction I personally would still just swap out pans, but if the channels run the 3 foot direction, front to back it would give a much longer grace period for the fresh sap to clean out the channel. Might sound weird but lets say the shorter channels have 2 channels full of niter equiling 4 foot length of niter which would be half your channels. Now take that same 4 feet of niter buildup and it would only be 1 1/3 of the channels leaving you closer to 3 channels left for the fresh sap to clean them out which would buy you more time before niter started building up again in the front channel. Makes sense to me but dont know if I explained that to make sense to anyone else lol.

[RileySugarbush]

I was referring to plumbing my rig for easy reversing. I think it should work fine based on our experience reversing the pan. I was just asking if our larger pan would reduce your concerns about it working. I think you have answered that now. We do have four channels running the long way.

Thanks

[Haynes Forest Products]

Maybe a silly question but Just how clean does a reversing pan stay. I ask this because everyone I know that have reversing pans only did it to keep the flu pan clean. Without the new style pan with corresponding piping I can change out my clean pan quicker than reversing flow on the old style.
Is the cost of the new reverse flow set up cheaper than a 3rd pan?

[RileySugarbush]

Haynes,

When we start to load up with niter we have been rotating our syrup pan 180. It keeps us going for the day without much of a delay. But it does take a while to burn the fire down, un couple the feed from the sap pan and rotate it. It messes with the pan gasket and such as well. Depending not the year, a reverse like that will keep us going for several hours or more before it needs to be repeated.

I need to increase the size of my fittings on the pans anyway. The existing pans all have 1/2" fittings and flow way to slow when we are running at max rates. I figure it will be easy to add some valves and make it quicker to reverse mid day. Nothing more than that.

[maplefarmer]

Rileysugarbush; That is what i was trying to get at,taking the syrup pan off rips my gasket off and i need to put new on every time i reverse. was wondering if i could reverse and not have to take off front pan. Do you have a 3' syrup pan, as mine is a 2' (misprint on original post) Thought i could use a warming pan setting across the flue pan with valves on both sides, so i could let it in either side of the flue pan, and by reversing flow in syrup pan would be a lot easier to switch drawing off sides.

[RileySugarbush]

I mis spoke too. My syrup pan is three channels, so a bit less flow length for clearing niter. It is actually a bit less than 3', being an old Half Pint pan, it is 33" x 24". The nice thing about the three channel is it allows for in the back side and out the opposite front side.

As far as the flue pan goes, I think I will run a copper pipe inside mine to take it from the left side to right when I reverse flow.

[3rdgen.maple]

Haynes has it pretty mich right. What baffles me a tad is why is your gasket ripping? What are you using for gasket material? Im on 3 years with the same gasket material and expect it to last atleast 3 more and I take my syrup pan off every single day sometimes twice a day to clean it up or swap with another pan. Maplefarmer what you are saying is you reverse the syrup pan 180 degrees on a 2 foot pan and actually see a result? FOr how long and how many times do you have to rotate it? It has never worked for me. If you have a very low niter buildup maybe it would. I pull my pan with a full fire roaring in it by myself. I stand in front of the arch and lift it up and pull it towards me, it keeps the flames out of my face.

[maplefarmer]

3rdgn, I am using pan gasket from sugarbush supply, comes on a 25' roll, does seem to be soft and wants to come apart pretty easy. what is it you are using that lasts that long, and where can i get some. By rotating the syrup pan 180, it does help clean the nitre off, but I also scrape it a little. I made 100 gal of syrup last year, by turning the pan every couple days i don;t get an extreme amount of buildup.

[3rdgen.maple]

Patrick sent the gasket along with the rig when I bought it. Not sure exacally what it is called but it is hollow in the middle so a flat mettal bar can be stuck in the middle for between the pans and without the bars for on the arch rail. Its about 2 1/2 inches wide and 3/8 thick and its tough stuff. It is supple but not fragile. I will send out an email to Patrick and see if he would give me some more insight on it.

[Josh Nickles]

3rdgen

Please let us know what he tells you! Thanks

Josh

[maple flats]

I don't know about what Patric uses but I use door gasket, normally used on an outdoor wood boiler. It is a hollow tube with some sort of fiber inside, kind of like a very loose rope inside a loosly sewn cover. It had a long tab on one side where rivets would normally be used if on a door on a boiler. I'm guessing it is ceramic. My gasket is several years old. I started using it after my first season with my current rig back in '06. It does not self destruct. Talk to some outdoor boiler dealer.