Seeking Drop Flue Pan Advice

[gentlemanfarmervt]

this years been fun with my little 1000 tap set up but next year im going big. Got vac. and releaser figured out, i think. Now i have my eye on an evaporator 30" x 8' leader king, but i need a new drop flue pan. Flue pan is 30" x 5' and i would love to find a good used flue pan if there is one out here... thanks to all... also if there are any ideas on new pan costs let me know.

[gentlemanfarmervt]

dont know alot about this but would like to set up pre heater and hoods, also... rig has forced air blower also. Does anyone have any numbers regarding boil rate? with or without preheater/steamaway? what do people think of the max flue pan setups on the older arches? i guess i am only looking for smooth function for my small operation and bang for the buck so thanks for the help. oh yeah... 2013-1000 taps gravity, 2014-2000 taps vacuum!!!! with about 2000 more to come as time and budget permit.

[spencer11]

That size rig will run about 65 gph without a hood or preheater, not sure where you would find a new flue pan. Might have to get one made, you will probably also want an RO with that many taps on vac

[PerryW]

Yup, you might end up with 1000-2000 gallons of sap in a run depending on the trees. That's 15 to 30 hours of boiling.

I heard that larger used evaporators like 5x14's are reasonably cheap as many people make the switch to RO and smaller evaporators. You might want to consider something that size for 1000 VAC taps.