What to do????? Need Opinions!!!

[Rossell's Sugar Camp]

I have a lead soldered flue pan and welded front pan with soldered partitions and I don't know if I want to trade them in for welded pans or get them retinned by a guy in the mountains. The front pan is slightly warped from being scorched and the flue pan has a few small leaks. still holds water without showing visible drop in level.
3x10 evaporator drop flue
Front pan is 4 feet long flue pan is 6 feet.
I have a good bit of money but I want to save up for an RO.

[brookledge]

I know it is not my money. but I would get rid of the lead. I did it ten yrs ago. Have you ever sent samples to a lab to see how much lead is in the syrup? Would you want to buy milk or water that had lead in it? Certainly you would not want to feed it to children.
Keith

[Thad Blaisdell]

one day soon they are going to say...... no lead in your pans.... and the people with lead are going to be stuck holding the bag. The writing is on the wall. Just look at VT no more galv barrels, and now Bascoms is not taking galv or other off the wall crap for syrup. NO LEAD is coming.

[Maple Ridge Farm]

Remember Maple Syrup is a food product why even consider Lead?

[PerryFamily]

I would think with your tap count (<300) a 3x10 would almost be over kill at this point. I think your money would be best spent on new welded pans and as you expand look into RO. Give Smokey Lake a call. Great to deal with and the extra syrup pan I am going to have him build was quoted half the price of leader!

[BreezyHill]

Change is coming very soon. I own a feed mill in NY we are now a DHS(Dept of Homeland Security) Registered facility. Every feed mill in the US must be or should be closed already. This is for making animal feed. Not human consumption.

Thad is spot on.

Don't waste another cent on anything lead. Start upgrading now or many producers will be out of business due to the high cost of changing everything over to lead free at one time. I cant even let my bulk trucks out of sight of the driver when loaded with feed; and the bag trucks either.
It isn't the tofu tree huggers that are the problem either, it is terrorism. There will come a time that we will have to have all sap piped to the sugar house. No more road side collection tanks without lock and key and 24/7 video security. Syrup will need to be batch coded, lot numbered and recorded and labeled on everything. Production and wash down logs with times and dates will be the norm.

I am sorry if I have frightened anyone...but it is better to know what the future holds so we can manage our futures than to be blind sided by, Ag & Markets or FDA with a notice of noncompliance and have product seized.

Don't get me wrong the guys and girls that come and inspect us are usually 100% great people just doing their job. They want to help and educate producers. There are a few power tripping inspectors that want to find something to write up, to look good to the boss; and they get really cranky when you have your records up to the minute and paperwork at your figure tips. And remember they will find all of us. It is what they do. If you have bought any supplies in the last five years they already have your address; unless you paid cash and didn't give any info to the sales person...not even your zip code at the checkout line...it is tied into the video time code for customer id.

Personnaly I got a copy of what it takes to be inspected for organic certification and every state that offers an inspection and am upgrading to the strictest guide line. I would suggest we all do the same.

Ben

[500592]

I would just get them retinned or depending on the price buy new or used.

[BreezyHill]

Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.

Invest in used or new...don't retin when the price of steel is likely to rise more. Scrape now is in the low teens, it was in the 40's less than two years ago; and more likely to rise than stay the same.

Ben

[gmcooper]

Easy to spend some one else's money here but with a front pan that is warped and scorched and a lead soldered flue pan that leaks it should be a pretty simple decision. There are several guys that make very nice replacement pans welded and they guys at A&A Metal shop make some decent soldered pans at a very good price. You will be very happy later on if you go with new pans.