Pan design

[hillbillybee]

Hi All,


I'm looking at starting off with about 40 or so trees.

starting the stages of designing a flat pan.

I plan to finish off my syrup with a propane stove and pot.

If i make a pan 18'' wide x 36'' long , with compartments. how big should the openings be from compartment to compartment? how big should the travel holes under the compartment walls be?

If i've been understanding this correctly...the fresh sap starts at the back ( by the chimny) and winds forward left, right, left etc. until a pour off valve at the front.

should the pan be level???

When starting a boil fill the whole pan 3/4 full?

When do you start to open the pour valve? does the first bit of pour get dumped back in half way to boil more if it's not there yet?

lots more question to come....

[500592]

There should be no gap under the dividers except at the ends where sap moves through

[hillbillybee]

how big should they be?
are holes recomended so they can be pluged when at the end of the boil that tank is empty? would i have to hand scoop the last of the syrup in that compartment REAL quick so it doesn't burn , then add water to the sealed compartment?

[Jec]

Yes only a cut out like 2" or so. It would look like a triangle. The sap will enter farest away from the draw off. The sap will then flow through the pan and at the draw off it should be the thickest ready for draw off. This is called a gradient. Now this will only happen if the pan is relatively level. The pan doesn't have to be extremely full in the biggining. The lower the level the better. You open the valve when your close to syrup. You can tell that by seeing the temp and also the density. You can use a hydrometer.
Hope this helps,
Joey

[hillbillybee]

when i'm out of sap and the boil is wrapping up how do i keep the sap from burning in the tank that is at the chimny.

do i pull the whole pan at that point and drain everything so it doesn't burn?

[Maple Hobo]

when i'm out of sap and the boil is wrapping up how do i keep the sap from burning in the tank that is at the chimny.

do i pull the whole pan at that point and drain everything so it doesn't burn?

I assume your talking about a preheater tank not the continuous flow pan itself.

Typicaly you don't run the evaporator dry/empty, you need to figure out how much cold/raw sap you need to flood the pan/tank and cool the process to end for that run for the day. Then you hold that pan untill you start the next day's run.

Think of the pan as a long trough or gutter... Its just folded back and forth on itself. Raw sap comes in one end cold and keeps getting hotter as the water is evaporated untill it reaches the other end and is almost finished. Then you drain a little bit out and the cooler sap moves forward and thickens too. Its like having a row of the pots that you keep pouring forward as they thicken so your not starting from scratch each time.

You don't empty it out like a single pot, once the process is started you want to keep the pan in a cycle every run and as near as ready to start up again the next day uninterupted. The process just needs to be cooled down at the end of each day so the arch/firebox can cool without buring the pan. If you dump in too much raw sap though it set you back and makes the next boil longer to start and get the cycle going again.

[bobbyjake]

I am not one to poo-poo anyones interest in making their own equipment or being self-sufficient or working through their own learning curves, but with the questions you are asking, you might save yourself alot of headache to just buy a pan. There are plenty of used pans on the market that could serve your needs for many years as well as new options such as the ebay auction below.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/24-x-48-x-8-stainless-maple-syrup-evaporator-pan-/300606450991?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45fd8a6d2f
Good Luck!!

[mike z]

Make sure as you draw off syrup (or near syrup) that you don't run the pan empty and burn it. I know from experience that my front pan, when heated, warps a little creating high spots; when your pan is foaming as you draw off it is hard to tell how low you're getting.

[b116757]

With only 40 trees your wasting time and money messing with a continuous flow pan system build a 2'x6' flat pan with drain. Fill the pan boil it down add more sap boil it down ect.. a 2'x6' flat pan is good for 120 taps you will be fine. The grade will be a little darker as apposed to a continuous feed but you will not notice, that is also why the deviders in a continuous feed pan are fully welded.

[hillbillybee]

thanks for the info Guys,

looks like i might be jumping the gun a bit.

may stick to a flat pan for a few years.

cheers

[palmer4th]

Buy the North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual... Its a big help to get started