Go Flue or Go Bigger?

[Starting Small]

At what point is it better to just purchase a flue pan instead of just buying a larger evaporator? It sounds as if my Mason 2X3 will not benefit too much from a custom flue made for it and I should go to a bigger evaporator next year. When though do people stop getting larger arches and just decide to have a flue pan made for them? 2x4 or 2X6 or something else?

[spencer11]

i am planning on 250+ taps next year and am going to make a a 2x6 with a 2x2 syrup pan and a 2x4 mason style drop tube rear pan. thats my plan. a flue pan would work for me but it would be to hard to build and more expensive that the drop tube. i would go bigger if your still under 100 taps. maybe a flue pan.

spencer

[Starting Small]

What is the difference between a drop tube and a drop flue? I always assumed they were the same thing.

[spencer11]

here is what bill masons drop tube pans look like(what i plan on building)- http://wfmasonwelding.com/evaporators.html scroll down.

here is a drop flue pan-http://media.photobucket.com/image/drop%20flue%20pan/hinkjc/Maple%20syrup%20Making/U3101009.jpg it only shows the bottom of the flues

here is what alot of people do with drop tubes-http://media.photobucket.com/image/drop%20flue%20pan/bedublu/Maple%20Syrup/th_IMG_2138.jpg what you might be able to do.

spencer

[Starting Small]

Interesting, does the syrup actually go down into the tubes? I would imagine it would have to.

[spencer11]

in the last picture it does. i have heard it comes shooting back up to! some people have 12 inch sides on there pans and still need a splash guard.

spencer

[B.D.L]

you want the drop tubes only in the sap pan not the syrup pan.

[Ecnerwal]

You can either sell the 2x3 complete, or buy/build a flue/flat pan 2 feet or 3 feet wide and use the 2x3 pan you have as a syrup pan on the front of your new pan in the back, on a new (or extended) arch. Depends on your mindset, how handy you are, and what sort of deals you come across...

[Starting Small]

Ecnerwal, so you are saying to use the current pans on a larger evaporator? If so what size would I need to buy/build a 2X3 flue? Would the evaporator need to be like a 2 X 6?

[wcproctor]

i am planning on 250+ taps next year and am going to make a a 2x6 with a 2x2 syrup pan and a 2x4 mason style drop tube rear pan. thats my plan. a flue pan would work for me but it would be to hard to build and more expensive that the drop tube. i would go bigger if your still under 100 taps. maybe a flue pan.

spencer

Ha Spencer If I were you I would make a 2x8 with 250+. I use a 2x6 with flues and I boil for a loooooong time, I had about 180 last year. the extra 2' may make a big difference. I hope to make a 2x8 soon.

[Ecnerwal]

Kinda depends on you, and your ambitions. You have a 2x3 foot pan, so you could upgrade to 2 feet wide by as long as you like, or 3 feet wide and as long as you like, without changing that pan, using it as the syrup pan. Or you sell the whole rig and buy a different rig - that's up to you. Or take a left turn down RO alley and make it big enough to do a lot more without changing it a bit.

As far as I can tell, so long as you're willing to put enough stack on it going up to make it draw, longer is more efficient (wood in to syrup out.) So, as far as I can tell (and I don't claim to be particularly expert) if you wanted another 12 square foot (on the top) pan, a 2x6 behind your 2x3 on a 2x9 arch would be more efficient than a 3x4 behind your 3x2 on a 3x6 arch. Unless you get things for free, larger costs more, so sizing it with some idea of where you are heading in terms of production would make sense. You might want a 3x10 behind the 3x2 on a 3x12 base or 2x3 with flues behind your 2x3 flat on a 2x6 might be all you aspire to. You might want to stick with combinations that match "standard" pans/arches, or you might not care too much about that.

I don't know what your ambitions are. I'd suggest letting the current year's profit set the scale of (and pay for) what you do the next year, rather than spending money you don't have on it, but that's also up to you. Makes it a lot easier to get through a bad year in a variable, weather-dependent business or hobby.

Look at what Deckers007 is doing just with steam pans, an old wood stove, and extending it.

http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?13681-New-evaporator-with-steam-pans.

If you don't weld, might be better to sell complete and buy complete. Depends on you...

[Starting Small]

Good call, since I have zero experience welding I think selling complete and buying complete would be the way to go. I'd better hope the bees make plenty of honey so I can make enough money from them to upgrade this new hobby!

[Lazarus]

I can tell you what I did in your situation. I had a Mason 3 x 2 a few years back with 20 taps and liked it very well. Quality construction, good boil rate for its size, and made very nice syrup.

When I moved up to 100 taps, I bought a 2 x 6 with drop flues, 4' flue pan, 2' syrup pan. Now, I know that's a big jump in taps, but I can only boil on the weekends, so I need to overcome that equation of *gallons of sap coming in the door each week vs. boil rate vs. hours in the weekend to boil* in a serious way.
This year I'm at 225 taps and will likely go to 300 or more next year, with a goal of 500 or more by 2015. I'm looking at replacing it already with a 2 x 8 (possibly), but that's about as far as I will go before I start using RO to solve the equation instead of going bigger if I get more taps.

I liked the idea of just going a little bigger at first, but I would have been in trouble pretty quickly. If you think you are going to grow in the next few years, you might think about how far your next move is going to get you.

-Laz

225 taps
GBM 2x6
Continuous UV sap storage
5 micron sap sediment filtration unit
Honda Foreman 500, YuTrax trailer
and 100 gal PCO tank super-saphauler
Boiling outside in 2012 due to barn collapse
New sugarhouse planned for 2013

[Starting Small]

Lazy I think you are right on the money with your advice. That was just the info I was looking for as I will only be able to boil three days per week ir so. Your advice has helped more than you would know!