New pans ordered

[maple flats]

This week I ordered a new set of pans, from Thor. Mine will be custom. I'm having them build a 3 x 5 with 10" raised flues, and a 3 x 3 syrup pan. This will be in same side draw design. I hope this gives me a good increase in boil rate. The flue pan will have 20" sides to help keep the sap IN the pan. Unless I have a good blueberry season I'll likely cut my 3x6 hood down but if I do well in blueberries I'll order an SS hood too. Now I can't wait til next year, to use the new pans, I'll have to run water to test it when they arrive.

[Gary R]

Dave, congratulations and good luck!

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

takes pics of the new install, congrats

[Bucket Head]

Congratulations Dave. You'll enjoy boiling more with those pans! More syrup pan and less flue pan is the new "standard" when it comes to RO use and boiling concentrate instead of straight sap. When is the projected delivery date?

[maple flats]

I should get completion date info Monday afternoon, they already have the syrup pan but need to make the custom flue pan.
My old pans were good, but I wanted the larger syrup pan, I considered going a 3x3 syrup and keep the 3x6 flue pan, but decided I didn't want to lengthen the arch and lose the extra foot of room in front of the arch. I want to run 10 or even 12% concentrate in the future. The 2' syrup and 6' flue pan worked well on sap but at 7% OK but 8% it started to get too close to syrup as it hit the syrup pan. If I had a spell between draws I could get syrup in the flue pan.
What excites me most on the new one is the 10" flues rather than 7". It'll be interesting to see how much increase in boil rate that gives me. Also, if I ever add a steam away a 3x5 is less costly than a 3x6. The verdict is still out on a steam away. At this time I don't plan on one but then I didn't plan on new pans yet either a year or 2 ago.

[Bruce L]

Congratulations Dave,but not sure if your flue pan sides will be high enough?I have the Leader Max Flue pans with 11&1/2" crimps,27" sides and it still throws sap out!!!That may also be the vortex arch helping to do that.Just a thought,Bruce

[RustyBuckets]

New shiny stuff is always great, but Im a tad confused. Without doing the math it seems you actually increased your surface area with larger flues, you are trying to increase your gph to run higher concentrate but yet you are trying to get away from almost making syrup in your flue pan before it hits your syrup pan. How can you increase your surface area, increase your concentrate and increase your GPH without increasing how close you are to syrup before it hits the flue pan?

[maple flats]

Don't try to confuse me with facts. The ratio of 1/3,2/3 is supposed to be best, I'll be at 40% front and 60% flue because of the deeper flues. That is to recommendations of the pan manufacturer. I may need to make something to keep the sap in the back pan in place of a steam away.

[RustyBuckets]

Confuse you with facts? LMAO I ask a question and that is your reply? Thanks for helping me understand your philosophy on this one.

[maple flats]

Sorry, if I was sharp. My choice of pan lengths was based on the ratio suggestion of Thor Equipments (Algiers division). They said to go 1/3, 2/3 for best results. I chose 3' x 3' and 3' x 5' for an actual 37.5% front and 62.5% rear ratio. I looked closely at an Algiers evaporator back in 2005 at the winter conference in Verona. I liked the looks of their work. It looked to be a neater welding job. Then I couldn't find them a year later. I now find out that Thor is the new company name and Algiers is the division. They still make an excellent product and that is why I ordered from them. I also checked with fellow member Thad Blaisdale who has Thor pans. He has a 6 x 14 (10,000 taps) and when I asked him about his rig he said he'd buy one again in a heartbeat if needed. I have been led to believe that the longer front pan than I had should make a good relative density in each section easier to maintain, even with the taller flues. My belief is that this ratio is best. I also looked at the new evaporator my Leader dealer just got, a 3 x 10, with 4' syrup and 6' MAX flues pan topped with a 6' steamaway. They did very well at keeping the relative density in proper proportion in each section. The MAXX flue has 11.5" flues I believe, mine will be 10"

[Bucket Head]

Dave,
Call Thor up and tell them your changing the pan sizes! Just kidding...., sort of. Yesterday I saw a new Leader 2x6 that was 50/50- a three foot syrup pan and a three foot flue pan. Nowadays, since RO usage is now getting rid of the water that flues used to do, larger syrup pans are needed for the increased syrup output. If you plan on ROing to a higher percentage later on, or upgrading to a larger RO capable of higher percentages, those larger flues won't be needed but more syrup pan area will be.

Now going back to the dealer "keeping the relative density in proper proportion", did they say how they did that? Many folks, some of which are users here, are complaining about making darker syrup with the added flue area. A recent post mentioned that it was difficult to make light syrup. And I've heard stories of syrup being made in the flue pan. They are saying the "sweet" with higher sugar stays in the large flues too long and picks up added color, and gets too close to syrup too soon. Did Thor have anything to say about 50/50 pan sizes?

[maple flats]

I got an email 3 days ago, my pans are ready. That took 2 weeks for custom sized pans from Thor. I was told mid September, now I've go to hurry. I had planned to go get them but I have neither a passport nor Enhanced drivers license. I was planning to get one this summer. Now I think I'll step that up a few weeks. My Wife and I both need one, not to get out, but to get back in. I guess I'd better get the ball rolling on the Enhanced license.
I was concerned that I might be waiting as the 2013 season got near. I guess that was not an issue.