Door advice for a 2x4, possibly homemade

[Zachary Hoyt]

I have been doing a very small amount of syrup since 2009 and boiling on a steam table pan over an open fire. This has been okay but rather slow. We've made around 5 gallons both of the last two years. Last fall I attended a local auction and bought the 2x4 setup in the photos for $70. It wasn't advertised as being in the auction so I bought it without having thought a lot about it first. It appears to have been set up to burn gas or oil and I want to convert it to be able to burn wood. I had been thinking of buying a barrel stove door and putting it on after cutting a bigger opening in the end of the arch, but I do not know anything about arches and how they need to be set up to work well. I have lots of wood to burn and I have access to a local welder who makes house calls, so I should be able to get done whatever is needed to make this setup work. If I can get it to work for this season I am planning to build a sugarhouse before next year. I know I need a good tall stack on the pipe end of the arch and I can do that with no trouble, but I am not sure how to proceed with the firebox and door end of things. I am new to this forum, so if there is anything I should do differently when posting please let me know. Any advice will be much appreciated. I can take more photos or get measurements if they would be helpful. I have a photo of the pan but I can only upload 5 pictures at a time.
Zach
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[vtwoody]

nice score!!!! Hopefully, for you, the pan is in decent shape and Stainless....your welder friend should be able to help cut a door opening and fabricate a door pretty easy... its already firebricked so you are well ahead of the game....if pan is good, all you need is the door hole and door....sweet!!!

[Ausable]

Zach - Thanks for putting up pictures or I would not have believed it. That baby is heavy duty. I would guess it is home built and with the small door opening - Oil Fired. The face looks like the floor plate material from around an Electric Generating Plant Boiler. I'm not making fun - I've just never saw an arch made this heavy duty - it will last forever. You have a good solid lip around the top of the arch to put your pans on. The circle opening would be where the oil torch went and if the little door above it opens - I would guess it is an inspection port to check your fire. My home made rig is wood fired so I'm a poor one to give advice on this arch. I'm just going on memory from my boiler operator days. Looks like it would be fun to make syrup on. ---Mike---

[Ausable]

Zach --- I keep looking at the pictures - The side walls of this arch look like steel I beams - are they? ---Mike---

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you very much for the responses. The arch seems to be made of 1/4" plate for the most part, it is indeed extremely heavy. I move it around with a set of forks on our loader tractor that we use to pick up logs. Luckily it was only 5 miles away so I was able to drive up and get it after the auction with the tractor and a wagon. Can I build the fire directly on the firebrick in the bottom of the burn chamber or do I need some kind of metal grate? I would like to cut away some of the firebrick where the door will be so that the hole in the firebrick matches the door opening, as long as that will not cause a problem. I think it would be easier to load that way. The current end plate is indeed equipped with a spring loaded door toward the top that looks to be for checking the flame, the whole setup is reminiscent of a few oil furnaces I have worked on previously. The end seems to be diamond plate which will require a little bit of grinding to remove the bumps so the door frame has a good mating surface, I guess that was what they had when building it. I will attach a picture of the pan, it seems to be slightly primitive but I think it will work for this year anyway.
Zach
5162.

[Ausable]

If You are just planning on natural draft and burning wood - This is just my opinion - You could eliminate the front fire brick where the larger door is going. If you have the room in the firebox I would install a grate to burn the wood on top of - that way air could get underneath the fire and burn better. Also if it is large enough an ash clean out door would be handy - to shovel the ash out and could be opened to allow extra air in if needed for combustion. -- Mike--

[wiam]

You will need a grate so air can come up through fire. Should be fine cutting a bigger opening for a door and removing fire brick. Lose the damper.

[sugar ED]

Thank you very much for the responses. The arch seems to be made of 1/4" plate for the most part, it is indeed extremely heavy. I move it around with a set of forks on our loader tractor that we use to pick up logs. Luckily it was only 5 miles away so I was able to drive up and get it after the auction with the tractor and a wagon. Can I build the fire directly on the firebrick in the bottom of the burn chamber or do I need some kind of metal grate? I would like to cut away some of the firebrick where the door will be so that the hole in the firebrick matches the door opening, as long as that will not cause a problem. I think it would be easier to load that way. The current end plate is indeed equipped with a spring loaded door toward the top that looks to be for checking the flame, the whole setup is reminiscent of a few oil furnaces I have worked on previously. The end seems to be diamond plate which will require a little bit of grinding to remove the bumps so the door frame has a good mating surface, I guess that was what they had when building it. I will attach a picture of the pan, it seems to be slightly primitive but I think it will work for this year anyway.
Zach
5162.
Welcome, Zach
A couple questions ,size of fire box (top to bottom/side to side /front to back) ? dose it have fire brick on the bottom? Also your pan size and how deep is it ? and yes u should have grates about 4" above bottom (for ash tray ) but atleast 2" above,for air flow thru grate.
Good luck ,Ed

[Zachary Hoyt]

The firebox does have brick on the bottom as well as the sides. The dimensions are 12.5" wide, 11"high from the top of the firebrick to the bottom of the pan and 19" from the metal plate where the door will go to the firebrick in the back of the firebox. I can put a barrel stove door on it and it will be fine for loading and removing ash, I think from looking at pictures that they also have an air vent/damper on the door frame right below the door, however I have never had a barrel stove so I am not sure about that. If that is the case then it seems that I could put the door on and build a grate and be ready to go, since I would have air to the bottom of the fire. I also don't know how far below the pan is optimal for the fire to be built. The pan is 6" deep and divided 2/3-1/3 with a pipe with a ball valve between the two sections and a draw-off with a valve on the other side of the small pan. Thank you very much for the help.
Zach

[sugar ED]

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The firebox does have brick on the bottom as well as the sides. The dimensions are 12.5" wide, 11"high from the top of the firebrick to the bottom of the pan and 19" from the metal plate where the door will go to the firebrick in the back of the firebox. I can put a barrel stove door on it and it will be fine for loading and removing ash, I think from looking at pictures that they also have an air vent/damper on the door frame right below the door, however I have never had a barrel stove so I am not sure about that. If that is the case then it seems that I could put the door on and build a grate and be ready to go, since I would have air to the bottom of the fire. I also don't know how far below the pan is optimal for the fire to be built. The pan is 6" deep and divided 2/3-1/3 with a pipe with a ball valve between the two sections and a draw-off with a valve on the other side of the small pan. Thank you very much for the help.
Zach
Hi Zach
If possible can you remove the bottom fire brick? (for more room and thayer no use there anyway) - maybe thay hold up side bricks, but you could cut with chisel to remove the part that isn't under the sides for more room under your grate and that is where you need a draft/ash door ,Hope the brick is thick as it looks (extra 4" would be nice), cause with only 11" be hard to put in grate/ash area and still have enought area for a fire .
I took some pic of my arch today and will try to post them .
Your pans should work fine !
Good luck and hope this helps Ed

[sugar ED]

Zach
Thats all for the fire box (only 5 pic. at a time) So here's the ramp/rear pic. ,I did have my brick flat in ramp but an old timer tole me to stagger the brick to make the rear of the pan boil , (causes turbulance?) and that it dose ! 51835184518551865187

[Zachary Hoyt]

Thank you for all of the help. I have finally gotten myself up to speed and got the door onto the arch, the fire brick in the bottom removed and a borrowed grate from an unused wood stove into the bottom. I hope it will be suitable., I'm curious to find out how it will work. I have a pipe up to about 5'3" off the ground, that is all of the 8" pipe I had squirreled away. Is that high enough for a good draft? I also have a section of 7" ductwork that I think I could make fit somehow but I don't know if it would supply enough air. If I need more height I will probably see if I can get some old 8" pipe from someone. If there is anything that looks wrong to you please let me know, I am happy to change anything that needs to be changed. I think the opening under the door will not be a problem, it goes into the area under the sheet metal floor under the grate. There was a hole there before and the previous owner had covered it with a plate but not well enough to hold it there once I cut the top half off to allow the door frame to fit. Thanks again for everything, this forum has been a big help to me this year.
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