Mason Evaporator thoughts

[Ryan August]

Ok, so looking at a Mason 2x4. I know the general consensus is he has good products, good price point ect. Few questions for those who have in put. Now, I know everyone talks highly of Bill and he has been pleasant and knowledgeable to talk with but I am always a skeptic and know he is also a salesman. He said his general feed back on the 2x4's is 12 gph. I have talked to him about going to the H.O or high out put arch and he feels this should get 18GPH boil rate. Any thoughts on the accuracy of these numbers? Also, anyone running a blower on the 2x4 or similar model standard arch and if so, what kind of efficiency to the boil rate do you get? THe H.O will run about $600 more but to save me 3 hours or so (and the couple extra beers that go with it) on a 90 gallon boil over the long term seems worth it to me. I know the home made RO guys would say make the homemade RO, which I have considered. Any other thoughts in this price range and boil rate. I am also open to solicitations for those looking to sell their 2x4 or similar model.

[bowhunter]

Ryan,

Have you looked at the modified Half Pint pan that Smokey Maple is selling? It's pretty expensive ($1,200) but it fits right on the half pint arch with no modifications and Jim claims it will do 15-20 GPH. I would be less expensive than a Mason evaporator by the time you add the firebrick and refractory, etc and a lot less expensive to ship. I have attached a link you can see. http://www.sugarbush.info/forsale/showproduct.php?product=208&title=smoky-lake26quot-3bfull-pint-26quot-3b-high-output-replacement-pan&cat=9

I'm also thinking about a small RO, but I'm really tempted to look at the Smokey Lake option for the half pint. Smokey Lake gets good reviews on this forum as well.

Dave

[silveradomaple]

You failed to mention what style pans you are considering here. If you are going with a flat pan style, your looking at around 12 GPH. High output arch will gain you another 2 or 3 GPH. If your interested in going with a flue pan and seperate syrup pan, your GPH will increase dramatically to around 18 GPH. Bill is currently building one for me and he assures me that i will between 20 and 25 GPH.76657666 This is representative of what he's building for me.

[Ryan August]

So I only have discussed a flat pan set up, no flues. I think the flue would be out of my price range, but mind if I ask what he quoted you on that flue pan set up, that is with basic arch? not HO? Your pics look great. Also, good idea to post #2 but the half pint listed sold like hot cakes so currently I got nothing.

[jstaples]

I have the Mason 2x4 XL...with the sectional pan and just the standard bricked arch. I also have a blower and I have been getting around 12 gallons an hour, depending on what type of wood I burn.

[PerryW]

my advice is to save your pennies and get the flue pan. You will save so many hours boiling with a flue pan that you will never regret it. Even a part time job for a couple months would pay the difference.

That 25 GPH WF Mason rig looks sweet. I have met Bill and he did a couple repairs for me. He is definitely not your typical salesman. Bill is a regular guy just out to make a living (not a killing).

[steve J]

I have Bills 2x4 with a flat pan 3 section and a heat under blower. In the past 2 years I been running blower at 1/2 speed as high was causing my stack to start to melt down. But this year I had a lot more softwood available to me and I been able to run it on high most of the time. I find you can not ad wood with it on high as flames come right out the door when you open it. At 1/2 speed I get 15 gallons per hour its closer to 17-18 on high. I believe he has a new pan for this rig that has the sections going sideways and I plan to call him to find out what he estimates that to evaporate at.

[judgejp]

i upgraded to the Mason 2x4 raised flue pictured in silverados post above from a Mason 2x3 flat pan. With the 2x3 and a blower and copper coil preheater i could get 12-15 gph maxed out with good wood. With 2x4 raised flue i get an easy 20+, 22 minutes from cold light to full boil. I would definetly go for the raised flue if you can swing it if not you will be happy with the flat pan but you will be boiling alot longer. Full set-up like the picture this year was $2800.00 with all the fittings, gaskets , ceramic sheet for inside of firebox, base stack and one section of stack pipe. no bricks.
Word of warning, get your order in early if you want it for next season because he does get busy come fall and winter
Pat

[sg5054]

Has any one made a hood for a 2x3? Is it worth the effort for such a small unit?
I am thinking of building a hood and pre-heater manifold set up.

What does Masons high output arch look like? I bricked up the back 1/2 of my 2x3 to within 3 inches of the pan bottom. I was originally about 5 inches away and watched the flames go straight to the pipe when I opened the door. Added more bricksto close the gap before the next boil and it made a noticeable difference.

Has anyone used the XL pans he is now offering?

[bowhunter]

Ryan,

Smokey Lake says they will be making more of the half pint pans this summer.

Dave

[Pibster]

Has any one made a hood for a 2x3? Is it worth the effort for such a small unit?
I am thinking of building a hood and pre-heater manifold set up.

I made a hood and copper preheater for my 2x3 rear pan. I probably gained a couple of gallon an hour. Sap preheats to around 170 and no steam in the sugar shack.

[johnzprecision]

I had a half pint last year and was boiling seven gallons an hour, this year I bought a new Mason HOBBY EVAPORATOR XL 2x4 flat pan with a blower and his high output arch. I was shooting for 14 to 15 gallons per hour, I would have been more than happy with that but to my surprise I have been staying very close to 20 gallons per hour. I insulated the arch with half inch ceramic insulation board before bricking then paid a lot of attention on how I bricked it for maximum heat transfer it is very consistent at 20 gallons an hour and I usually have to cut the blower down a little so the stack does not get to hot I try and keep it to the point it is a dull red not bright red. I have the wall at the end of the firebox to within two and one half inches of the pan and the back section after that I have been experimenting with three and three quarters of an inch. I cut the top row of brick so it is even with the top rail and does not mask any of the pan by doing that I picked up about 64 square inches of pan exposed to heat. For what my evaporator cost and the performance I get from it I am Very Happy. My arch is the same has the picture in post #3 with the flat pan and preheater from Masons Hobby XL.

[bowhunter]

How's your wood consumption compared to the half pint? Have you been able to make finished syrup on the Mason? I have a half pint and it burns a lot of wood.

Dave

[steve J]

Ihad a 2x3 from Mason before thte 2x4. The 2x3 use far more wood than my 2x4 with a blower. Jone I have a 3 speed swith on mine it sounds like you are useing a dimmer type switch so you can run a little faster than me but still not melt your stack is that right>

[lpakiz]

I highly recommend that you guys get a good stack thermometer. You can go on EBay and get a Hong Kong PID controller and k type thermocouple for under $30. Then you will know EXACTLY how hot your stack is, and more importantly, which way the numbers are trending and how fast they are changing. I would bet you the $30 that after you have one, you would never boil without one. Make sure the thermocouple tip is about 3-4 inches long, not the small bulb-type end.

[Gardiner Farms]

We've got a Mason 2x4 flat pan-it's the old type with 3 sections, not the XL. We don't have a blower or sap pre-heat system and I figure that we consistently average about 10 gals/hour.

[sg5054]

Do the XL pans make that big of a difference? I could upgrade to 2x4 but wouldn't have the room for anything bigger. I am definitely interested in an XL pan though for my 2x3 if it would make a reasonable improvement.

[johnzprecision]

It is much better on wood than the half pint was you are putting in a little more wood by time but making almost three times more syrup. I do make finished syrup directly off my Mason 2x4 but I also made finished off my half pint, I never could understand why people were not making finished syrup off of a half pint that is what I did from day one and never had any trouble getting it perfect right off of the evaporator. When we would bottle I do two and a half to three gallon batches and when I check it right before bottling I usually add one to two ounces of sweet water to a batch to get it perfect.

[johnzprecision]

I have the XL pan I really don't know if that makes syrup any faster it gives you a more steady draw off time, more gradient difference so I am taking off small amounts sooner so it is more steady flow once you start taking off syrup you keep taking small amounts every little bit. Boil rate is determined by surface area of the pan so a 2x4 with more dividers has no more area than a normal 2x4. Also I do not have a speed control on the blower if you read the directions for the blower that Mason uses it tells you a speed control cannot be used with this type I just restrict the intake flow by covering where the air enters.

[bowhunter]

John,

You're one of the few people on the forum who admit to making finished syrup on the half pint. I wasn't sure by your comment about the batch size. Are you saying you take off small draws from the half pint until you accumulate 2 and half to 3 gallons or do you keep evaporating until you have about 2 and half to 3 gallons of syrup in the pan? If that's the case how do you keep the pan gradient overnight or are you boiling around the clock? I'd like to make directly off my half pint, but have been a little reluctant because a normal days boiling only makes about a gallon of syrup.

Thanks,

Dave

Dave

[johnzprecision]

The 2 and half to 3 gallons batches I was talking about was when I bottle. I take off small draws and save it until I am ready to bottle than I bottle 2 and a half to three gallons at a time. I have about 10 gallons of syrup right now but when I bottle I will do it about 2 and a half to 3 gallons at a time.

[bowhunter]

Thanks. I only have one last question...well maybe. If you start with an empty pan how soon are you able to start drawing off syrup? I assume you draw off using temperature vs. trying to use the hydrometer?

[johnzprecision]

First off I have a thermometer in my pan and use it as a guide but every drop i draw off is with a hydrometer I did it the same way on my half pint, with my mason evaporator the draw off valve is a little lower than the pan so I draw into hydrometer cup check it if it is syrup it gets dumped into my collection pot and I continue to draw off a trickle into hydrometer cup and check and do this until it is not quite syrup then it gets poured back into pan. When I get my flow just right which is most of the time I will draw a small amount about every 10 to 15 minutes. With the half pint I had to take it out of the pan with a ladle, I run the level around three quarters of an inch and when you would open the valve on that there would be almost no flow so I had to use a ladle. If I start with everything fresh with the mason evaporator my first draw will be less than an hour. When I restart from a day before boil I am drawing off after about 20 minutes.

[bowhunter]

Thanks for the detail. I run a little higher level in my half pint and I have honestly never checked in the pan with a hydrometer. I may try that next year and see if I can make syrup right off the evaporator. I'm tired of carrying one and half to two gallons of semi to the house to finish on the stove.

[Ryan August]

Thanks for all the input so far. The flue pan looks great but thats a stretch for me, its not so much do I have the cash but more can I justify the lay out for a hobby to the wifey considering 100 taps or so is all I am looking at. In regards to half pint conversation here. What I started doing on mine was closing off the chanells at the end of my boil. I rigged up some small peices of metal and at the end of the boil i would put them in the gap between dividers to keep each channel seperate and prevent mixing, it worked fairly well so when I restarted the boil, i would have high concentrate near the draw.