Which is better?

[maple flats]

I am ready to grow. I have a 3 x 8 raised flue 3 yr old evaporator I am going to look at this comming week, starting price is $4500. OR I need to get an RO with no more than 25 gal/hr output to match my 2 x 6 I have. Here is the question. My current unit is from the mid 80's, must have some lead in the solder but not sure how much. Newer unit would not have lead (not yet sure if soldered or tig'ed). If I think at this time I would not be growing to more than 600-700 taps in the forseeable future which way is better to go. With 3 x 8 I should get about 60 gph and I now get 24 gph. An ro would get me up to about 75-80 gph. If I got the 3 x 8 and sold my 2 x 6 I would likely have about $3000 more in and if the sickness keeps spreading I could add a bigger RO to get maybe 200 combined gph. If I add RO to existing I would need to sell both and get new matched set to grow further. I furthermore only have experience with drop flue, this unit is raised flue. Other than 2 float valves what is different in operating a raised flue vs drop flue. My unit now has 2 x 3 flue pan, new has 3 x 5 flue pan. What do you see as pro's and conns? I forgot to mention, I have to generate my power now and if running in elec I need to factor that in for about 450' in from road buried and cost of everything associated with it. I will however need to do this some day anyway because i will be building a house near the sugarhouse in a few years.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Go with the 3x8, if you add a hood and preheater and a blower, you could do 75 to 80 gph or possible more! Much simpler and you don't have heat in the building for an RO. That is two gallon of syrup per hour and 500 gallon of sap in 6 to 7 hours. :D

[brookledge]

If you are considering 700 taps in the near future I'd go with a bigger evaporator than 3X8. Not knowing what type or extras the 3X8 you are looking at has you can plan on an evapration rate of 60-70 GPH more or less. So with 700 that would mean 10 hr. boiling time for 1 gal per tap
Keith

[maplehound]

Sounds like the same spot Iwas in three years ago. I opted to buy the 3x8. Went with a Dellair evaporator, cost at that time new was $5500 for the raised flue High efficency. I get about 90 - 100 gph with it. I now have 600 -700 taps and the trees to put out 200 more. Now I am considering an RO. I think I made the right decision and would recomend the same course to any one. I feel that with an RO I could do 3 times more taps than I have now for the same time spent cutting firewood and boiling.
Ron

[mountainvan]

If you have the time to boil on a regular basis I'd say go with the 3x8. by insulating the arch and pans you can go over 60 gal/hr. old 3x8 grimm lightning I boiled on did 50/hr till I insulated and added a blower, got it up to 70/hr. You can always get an ro when you add more taps, and you probably will!!

[Russell Lampron]

Is your sugarhouse Large enough to put the larger evaporator into or do you have to make it bigger? Can a 3x10 evaporator fit? If you can fit it in a 3x10 would be better for that many taps.

If you have to do major reconstruction to make a larger evaporator fit into your sugarhouse then consider the RO option. I am comfortably handling 500 taps with my 2x6 and 150gph RO machine. I used 1-1/2 cords of wood to make 80 gals of syrup and the electric bill was $80 to run the RO, heat the RO room, run my vacuum pump and for the lights etc in the sugarhouse.

Russ

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Mapleking gets 110 gph with his 3x8 raised flue and force air with hood and preheater. Guess you need to decide how much time you have to boil. Brookledge has a 3x12 with inferno and preheater and gets 140 gph. :?

[maple flats]

My sugarhouse would need major changes to go larger than 3 x 8. I think I am leaning towards the 3x8 but still have not seen it. Hope to get a chance in the next couple of days. Please do keep coming up with thoughts about this and i will be keeping up with the entries until i make up my mind after seeing the evap. in question. The owner says it is like new but he got sick and lost too much strength in his arms and can no longer do it.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Sounds like a good price. You can always build or buy an airtight front and add a hood and preheater and probably get it to 100 gph or more. There are not going to be very many days in a season where you get a gallon per tap and some years, you may not get any days or only 1 or 2. :)

If you can get it to 100 gph, you could always add a steamaway and get it to 160 to 170 gph! :D

[maple flats]

I went to look at the 3x8 evap today and bought it. The label says both Leader and Grimm, raised flue with 6' flue pan and 2' syrup pan, lead free solder in good shape. The owner is forced to quit due to health problems. Pans are clean and only thing I see that needs fix is a small dent in the bottom of 1 section on the syrup pan where he must have hit the bottom of the pan when filling the firebox. I'm quite sure I can remove most of it at my local tin shop a friend has. With the full 6' raised flue pan what should I get for production from this? I'm guessing 65-70 gph before hood and pre heater. Now I need to get more taps, will this never end?

[brookledge]

With the 6' flue pan it will increase it a little more than average (if it had a 5' flue pan) So I'd say you should get 65-70 like you said.
Keith

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

With good quality wood you may even do 75 to 80 stock with a 6' flue pan.

[maple flats]

Either rate is so much faster than the 24-25 I got the last three years. I will try to go to about 500 or more taps this next season. I need to locate more trees to rent, thinking about placing an adv. I may also drive around to locate some that are on a hill going up from the road and then locate the owner to see if they are interested in letting me tap.
Dave

[Mike]

If you get a 25 gal and hr RO it would take you a long time to put 500+ gals thru it....Id look at the 300 ?? gal and hr one.....I have a 3x10 and im thinking about a 600 gal an hr RO.....Unless I can get some Info on why a 300 would be big enough...... 8O ....Id like to get up to 1500-2000 taps in a few years........

[saphead]

Rule of thumb to give a ballpark rate of concentrate produced per hour is to divide RO rating per hour by four. 600 gph RO will give you 150 gal. of concentrate per hour, of course this varies w/ manufacturer and concentrate%.

[Russell Lampron]

To add to what to what saphead said, the sugar content of the sap will also have an effect on how much concentrate is produced.

Russ