What rate can I expect from a 2x6...

[jrmaple]

Hi, I am looking into buying a 2x6 with two steam hoods (both S.S.) and a parallel preheater in the back hood, the back pan and hood is a raised flue 2x4, and the front pan is just a normal 2x2 syrup pan, the arch is heavily lined and insulated and it has a blower as well, I was wondering what the maximum rate is that I could expect from this unit, thank you.

[motowbrowne]

Never ran a 2x6 before, but it seems that most folks who have fancy 2x6s like what you are talking about say somewhere in the 40gph range. I've heard more, but usually with Air Over Fire and an airtight front. Of course it depends on if you are counting startup and shutdown, and GPH of evaporation or total sap processed (if you count the syrup you take off in addition to the water removed.) Again, might be able to do more with some tweaking, but you should be able to hit 40 without much trouble. Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in here. Oh, almost forgot, it will also vary depending on the depth/number of your flues. Most pans have 7" deep flues, but some were made with 5", which obviously have less surface area and lower evap. rates.

Ryan

[PerryFamily]

Last year was my inaugural year on my own. I have a 2 x 6 , natural draft, heavy stainless sides, insulated with arch board and half bricks. I have leader patriot pans, 2x2 two compartment syrup and 2 x 4 raised flue. I figured I was ROUGHLY boiling 40gph of raw sap. Again this figure is rough but a few people I know said it sounds fairly close.
Good luck
JMP

[jmayerl]

35-40 should be about right. Lots of variables. The lower you run your sap, the more consistent you fire will also help. But there will still be those heavy air days, the ones that are damp and foggy. You swear a racoon crawled in you stack and died because she just won't boil hard.

[PerryFamily]

jmayrel- You are exactly right with the variables. After a few boils and getting used to the rig, I cut my depth in the rear to about 3/4" above the flues. Made a huge difference. Then a few more boils later I lowered the front pan down to 1" or so. Again, made a huge difference. I was thinking about a forced draft this year, but where I am located on top of the hill i get a wicked good draft. Hardly no ash , all blown up the stack. I do plan on getting a Snokey Lake maple pre heater and drip tray. And if the stars align and a pot bellied friend flys by hopefully a small RO.
Good luck
JMP

[jrmaple]

Thanks for all the advice, the previous owner said it would do about 45 gph as the max, maybe 50, and this is with a forced draft and all the right conditions will it reach 50. I can't wait to do a test boil and find out for myself what this can do, I am 16 and just upgrading so this is all very helpful!

[TRAILGUY]

a lot depends on how long you boil. I max around 50 gph and if I average around 35gph on a 4 hr boil start fire to stop feeding

[nymapleguy607]

Including start up and shutdown my 2x6 boils around 42GPH that's with a stack temp of 1200. Remember blowers on a 2x6 can slow your boil as much as they can speed it up. You really need to find the sweet spot with your evaporator.

[PerryFamily]

With the lack of ash left after the season, I am pretty sure a blower would not do me much good. As you said, it would just blow the heat up the stack and actually hurt my GPH.
I also noticed the more consistent firing made a huge difference. We would fire every 4 minutes. If some of the wood was a little larger, we would go to 5 minutes.

Also when firing, we NEVER open the door on the side we are drawing off of. I made a "paddle" poker to push all the wood and coals over to the draw off side and load wood on the opposite. Never lost the boil on the side we were drawing off.

With the small rigs there are a lot of tricks people have tried. Some successful, some not. These I have found worked for me.

Good luck
JMP

[adk1]

I found just the opposite for my 2x6 setup. THhe AUF blower makes a huge difference for me. I leave it on full throttle once the doors are shut. I reload every 7-9 minutes depending on the type of wood I have in there.

[Russell Lampron]

With the lack of ash left after the season, I am pretty sure a blower would not do me much good. As you said, it would just blow the heat up the stack and actually hurt my GPH.
I also noticed the more consistent firing made a huge difference. We would fire every 4 minutes. If some of the wood was a little larger, we would go to 5 minutes.

Also when firing, we NEVER open the door on the side we are drawing off of. I made a "paddle" poker to push all the wood and coals over to the draw off side and load wood on the opposite. Never lost the boil on the side we were drawing off.

With the small rigs there are a lot of tricks people have tried. Some successful, some not. These I have found worked for me.

Good luck
JMP

Does the boil die down when you open the doors to fire your evaporator? If it does you need a blower! I have a good natural draft too and thought that I didn't need a blower either. I added a blower because a friend of mine gave it too me. What a difference! I've got the air flow adjusted so that I can fire the evaporator without turning the blower off and I also maintain a full boil when the arch doors are open. I have no way to tell how many gph I am boiling off but when I concentrate to 18% or so I draw off about 7 gallons of syrup in an hour.

[PerryFamily]

Hi Russ- My boil does slow down a little when firing. Keeping the door shut on the side I am drawing off and only firing the opposite side helped a lot. Seems like the door is only shut for a second and it is right back to full boil. Having to shut the blower off to fire turns me off. Did you adjust your blower by a reastat or mechanically like cutting off some of the flow? I did wire the sugarhouse in anticipation of a blower.

[maple flats]

Try leaving the air on while firing. on my rig I did with AUF and I still do with AUF+AOF. I still get a slower boil with doors open, and I no longer open just 1 door, I do both at once. Have your wood ready before you open, and design a system while firing for minimal movement necessary. I fuel my 3x8 in about 15-20 seconds, the boil slows but does not stop and within 2-3 seconds after closing the door I have full boil again. However I won't comment on GPH for a well dressed 2x6, but with AOF you don't need to fuel as soon. I have tried every thing from every 8 minutes up to every 15. I settled on every 12.

[Russell Lampron]

Hi Russ- My boil does slow down a little when firing. Keeping the door shut on the side I am drawing off and only firing the opposite side helped a lot. Seems like the door is only shut for a second and it is right back to full boil. Having to shut the blower off to fire turns me off. Did you adjust your blower by a reastat or mechanically like cutting off some of the flow? I did wire the sugarhouse in anticipation of a blower.

I put a damper in the outlet of the blower. The motor on the blower runs full speed all of the time.

[PerryFamily]

Russ- Any idea if I would need any thing special on the ash area to add a blower. I was thinking maybe a ramp in front of the bottom door to deflect the air in the right direction.
Or maybe a 3" pipe manifold under the grates with holed facing up ? Seems like it might help direct the air under the fire where it is needed? Then again I might be over thinking this completely.

[wiam]

My blower on my 2x6 is adapted to 6" round then to a rectangle 2"x 12" that goes right into the back of ash pit. Works great.

[Russell Lampron]

Russ- Any idea if I would need any thing special on the ash area to add a blower. I was thinking maybe a ramp in front of the bottom door to deflect the air in the right direction.
Or maybe a 3" pipe manifold under the grates with holed facing up ? Seems like it might help direct the air under the fire where it is needed? Then again I might be over thinking this completely.

I built a deflector out of fire brick about 1/2 way in from the rear to force the air up into the grates.


My blower on my 2x6 is adapted to 6" round then to a rectangle 2"x 12" that goes right into the back of ash pit. Works great.

Mine goes into the back of the ash pit too. I don't remember the dimensions but my plenum is rectangular and similar in size to yours.