Suagr Shack Location

[country350]

This is my second year sugaring and I'm hooked. :) I graduated from a turkey fryer to a half pint evaporator for this season. I am looking into building a sugar shack and want to get some feedback on where to put it. One option is to build it next to my pole barn. If I went with this route it would be located about 35 feet away from the pole barn. Is this too close? Would it be a fire hazard? The pole barn has 14 foot high sidewalls so it's pretty tall. The other option would be to build the sugar shack out in the woods by my pond. The only thing that would be close by would be some trees that I could trim. Thoughts? Thanks!

[maineboiler]

35 feet from the barn sounds like far enough. Make sure your smoke stack is tall enough, that probably is more important. Are you using wood or a oil burner ? Oil is a lot safer in this regard but more expensive. Another bit of advise--set it up so your sap tank will be on the north side and well shaded

[country350]

How tall do I need to make the smoke stack? My evaporator is wood fired. Is it best to put a cap on the smoke stack to reduce air borne ash and debris? I've been reading and seeing pictures of people with huge flames coming out of their smoke stacks while boiling so I'm a little leery about being so close to my barn.

Thanks for the tip on the sap tank location.

[happy thoughts]

What do your local codes and insurance agent say? I believe the general rule is the stack should be 2 feet higher than anything combustible within 10 ft but you should check your local building codes. I'd absolutely have a cap/spark arrestor if only for my own piece of mind if not required. Sparks will really fly on windy days. It will also keep rain out of your rig.

[maineboiler]

Definitely put a lid on the stack for safety. Make sure you have the proper flashing and insulation where the stack comes through the roof that is a real fire hazard. Have fun

[Michael Greer]

On a breezy night, you can watch the sparks fly for a hundred feet. If the nearby building has metal roof and siding, it may be OK, but you don't want one more thing to worry about when you're cooking.

[maple flats]

With high pressure air over fire (AOF) I no longer get a ball of fire out the stack nor do I see any sparks. That was not the case before AOF. Try to get set with AOF, it will increase efficiency, boil harder and since the wood gases don't run out of oxygen before they completely burn you will not get the ball of fire at the top of the stack, everything is burned under the pans where it does what it should, boil harder. The stack temp. also runs lower with AOF, since it all burns sooner and the heat can then be given to the boil rather than the stack. Before AOF my stack temps ran over 1000 degrees and on a real good boil they hit as high as 1300-1400 degrees. Now with AOF my average stack temps are 700-900 degrees and my evaporation rate climbed by 15-20% depending on the wood I am using.

[sugarsand]

With high pressure air over fire (AOF) I no longer get a ball of fire out the stack nor do I see any sparks. That was not the case before AOF. Try to get set with AOF, it will increase efficiency, boil harder and since the wood gases don't run out of oxygen before they completely burn you will not get the ball of fire at the top of the stack, everything is burned under the pans where it does what it should, boil harder. The stack temp. also runs lower with AOF, since it all burns sooner and the heat can then be given to the boil rather than the stack. Before AOF my stack temps ran over 1000 degrees and on a real good boil they hit as high as 1300-1400 degrees. Now with AOF my average stack temps are 700-900 degrees and my evaporation rate climbed by 15-20% depending on the wood I am using.

Dave, our stack temps run about the same as yours but we dont have aof. Without aof is this sign that our burn isnt what it should be? Our boil is intense to all but the last 12" on a 8' raised flue, and the fire is so hot we cant hardly stand it to fire it. Also we see very few sparks or smoke other than when firing. Does this indicate a good setup even without aof?

Sugarsand