gph question

[jake1]

just wondering what kind of gph i can expect on my 2x6 with one 2x4 back pn and 2x2 front both divided, with a natural draft compared to a forced air setup? its blanketed and bricked well with a 12 foot stack, and will be burning spruce. just wondeing if i should look into a forced air deal before the season gets rolling, thanks

[TRAILGUY]

I when from 18 gph with a 2X6 with a home made arch with blower getting 18 gph to a newer 2X6 with out blower with hood and preheater getting 50 gph I think the size of the chimney make a bigger different. 6 inch now 10 inch. where in alaska did not know they had maples

[Tweegs]

My 2X6 runs 28~30 GPH straight out of the box with a 10”, 15 foot tall stack. Adding a hood and preheater, it is rated for around 50 GPH, probably nearer to 45 actual. Putting air on it, as a guess, would likely get it to a solid 50 GPH, and then some.

[spud]

just wondering what kind of gph i can expect on my 2x6 with one 2x4 back pn and 2x2 front both divided, with a natural draft compared to a forced air setup? its blanketed and bricked well with a 12 foot stack, and will be burning spruce. just wondeing if i should look into a forced air deal before the season gets rolling, thanks

Hi Jake,

I just moved to Vermont from Alaska back in July. Where are you located? I lived on the Wasilla fishook road for 21 years. I missed family and sugaring so much that i bought a home with sugarwoods here in Vermont. This year I have 5000 taps and next year it will be 6000+ taps. It would be good if you have forced draft for your rig. Put a wanted ad on Craigslist and you might find someone that has one. Central Plumbing and heating in Anchorage has them of Furgusion in Wasilla. Someone with an old forced air furnace is bound to have one in your area. Some good friends of mine tap birch trees in Alaska. I think they will have 2000 taps this year. They sell all their sap for about .30cents a gallon. Good luck to you.

Spud

[jake1]

thanks for the info, yeah i live in homer and tap few hundred birch, makes a nice product, ive done a few sugaring seasons in western ny, but live mainly up here, theres hardly any competition, acctualy none for 200 miles, so im trying to get bigger. im assuming these 30-50 gph are all on flue pans, unfortunatly ive got flat pans for now, anyone know gph on a 2x6 with flats? im guessing its a huge difference
jake

[treehugger]

I boiled for the first time with my 2x6 last Saturday. I have a 10" pipe, steamhood with preheater and at best i got 25 gal/hr. How are you firing your rigs? And what are key things to look for when boiling. I thought I would get over 30.

[Tweegs]

I boiled for the first time with my 2x6 last Saturday. I have a 10" pipe, steamhood with preheater and at best i got 25 gal/hr. How are you firing your rigs? And what are key things to look for when boiling. I thought I would get over 30.

The rule of thumb is that your stack should be twice the length of your pans, in your case at least 12 feet.

I split my wood to 6” in diameter. Some would call that too big, but it works for me and I don’t have to fire as often, about every 15 minutes on average.

I fill the firebox only 2/3 full. That fuel has to have room to combust.

When I fire the box, I start by laying the wood running North to South. The next time I will lay the wood East to West. This keeps good airflow through the fire.

When I get ready to fire the box, I stage the wood near the door so I can stuff it in there quickly leaving the door open as short a time as possible.

I’ve grown accustomed to having no eyebrows during sugaring season, but I do wear a hat, I’d like to keep what hair I have left. If you have facial hair, keep it trimmed in close or wear a shield. Behind that door is nothing short of a blast furnace, as it should be.

[Russell Lampron]

When my 2x6 evaporator was new and stock I got 35gph most of the time. I added a hood and preheater and picked up another 5gph. Then I added an RO and find it hard to keep track of how many gph I am getting. I also added a big blower to it and when I concentrate my sap to 18% or so I am drawing off about 7 gallons of syrup in an hour. I think that I would be in the 50+ gph range now if I was boiling raw sap. I do know that I am drawing off as much syrup in an hour as a local producer that has a 4x14 with a steamaway.

[kinalfarm]

Hi, to answer your question, my 2x6 got about 12 gph before I added a blower after the blower I was getting about 16 than I pipe pipes under the back pan and I'm now getting 22-25. Hope this answers your question. The main reason I would suggest a blow is when you fire it doesn't stop or slow the boiling down. It just keeps on rumbling! Good luck

[treehugger]

Thanks tweegs. Your info sharing is very helpful.

[maple marc]

I have a Leader WSE 2x6. First year for this setup--had a 2x4, and I stretched the arch and traded my old 2' flue pan for a 4'. I get 30 gph without any mods or blower. I fire every 8 minutes with hardwood split to about 6" diameter. 10" x 12' stack. Stack temperature runs 900 degrees. This setup is fine for my 100 taps and 50 gallons of syrup. A good run for me is 200-300 gallons of sap. Biggest factor in stack temp seems to be size of wood and species. Smaller splits makes for hotter, which is not always better. Above 900 things start to spit. No reason to make stack or door red hot.

Marc

[jake1]

right on thanks for the info,
im hoping for an honest 15 gph, the spruce up here is filled with sap and burns like crazy, hot and fast and theres lots of it. which is good because these birch trees are 1% at best

[jake1]

thnaks kinalfarm.
so im starting on my arch tomarrow and its not to late to leave room for drop tubes, i can tig weld. i have three sections in my back pan, wondering if putting a drop tube in each one would work, but dont know how long or what diameter, or how far to run it from the bottom of the pan, any info on that would be awesome! also do you have buildup problems or do you just brush them out after a good boil?

[jake1]

hey kinalfarm,
your in clymer eh? wow small world ive been spending the last 5 winters in sherman. with the merediths, you know em? i ran a bunch of tubing for mike last year to get him back in the game. this year he said its been pretty good.