new evap

[ihuntbear]

been sugaring for a couple years now on a 2x3 home made evaporator..its time to build a better and bigger one.the one i have is an old 500 lbs propane tank with three warming trays.boils around five gallon an hour ( toooooo slowwww ).I want to build a new one that maybe boils 10 to 20 or more per hour...I've been thinking maybe 2x6 with a preheater.I can weld the fire burner but will have to sub out the pans...do you guys have plans on building one i could use??been surfing the net for a while and all i get is pictures..I can build off a picture but will it work right??maybe maybe not...I own 1000 acres of mixed lumber with lots of sugar maple trees so the sky is the limit...i need some ideas,,,,please help

[Bucket Head]

It might be hard to come up with a set of plans for a homemade unit. I say that since most homemade units (like mine) originate from an idea or two and a mental picture of what is needed. Some figures might be jotted down, the metal is obtained, measured, cut, bent and then the welder is turned on. No actual, drawn-up-on-paper plans exist. Some guys might have something from their project- wait and see who else responds. If nothing comes about, go look at some factory made units. Any sugarmakers locally near you? Take some pictures of the flues. Or better yet, if possible, have your fabricator look at a flue pan. We are talking about a set of pans with a flue pan, right? You'd be surprised by how many sheet metal shops/fabricators have no idea what a flue pan is or what it looks like on the inside. I have some pictures of my pan(s) in my photobucket folder. For comparison, my flues are 1 3/4" wide with 3/4" spacing between them and they are 6" tall. Most factory made pans have 7-8" high flues, I beleive. Mine is a raised flue style pan. Most pans are made of 20 or 22ga. stainless sheet metal. Your fabricator will have to very experienced to weld that thin stuff correctly. Slightly thicker stuff can be used, but you sacrafice a little heat transfer doing that.

This is where your engineering and designing skills come out and shine, lol. It takes a fair amount of intuition and ingenuity to build a pan, but it can be done. And I'm sure whatever you wind up with will out perform your current rig!

[Z/MAN]

Ihuntbear, Davy Jones has plans on Google Sketchup. They are in 3D. You have to register with Google but that is not a problem. They are for building a 2x3 but you can modify them to suit your needs. I built my arch from them. Check out my photobucket to see my arch.
If you go back under HOMEMADE MAPLE EQUIPMENT and the thread Building my Own Evaporator on 3-16-2008 thread # 20 gives the link and it works when you click on it there.
Paul

[ihuntbear]

ok guys >>.sold my home made evap...I have a chance to buy a D&G 2x6 oil fired with one 2x6 flat pan ,he called it serpentine evap for 1000.00.Five hours away..The bottom of the pan looks warped from heat.Now i need to know if its worth buying or build a 2x8...Lots of ideas here to build one...asking for your 2 cents worth..I would post pics if i knew how

[smokeyamber]

Ok, here is my decision tree on building an arch... can I TIG ? if so build stainless pans, otherwise buy from someone else or in my case build with plain steel and MIG. Once you build pans then you build the arch to fit them. Arches are pretty easy and you can build them to be adjustable so you can change the ramps, grates, space under pans to get the best performance. If you are going big time then AOF and AUF are something you want , plans are here somewhere. If you plan on expanding later and you really have that many trees a 2x6 may be too small.

I would also look at Mason's stuff, he has great prices and everyone loves theirs !

Also go wood fired if you can and use all those trees that you thin in the sugarbush..

Have fun and good luck on the upgrade !!!

[ihuntbear]

I bought a D&G 2x6 oil fired evap with no hood ..got it home found a soldered pan..now i"m fixing the pan

[500592]

One thing to help remove solder is one of he vacuum pumps for that purpose