Thoughts on leader half-pint evaporator

[Quagmire33]

This year I bought a half pint and am curious what people think of them. How much wood they use and what kind of evaporation rate people have experienced with it. Also curious of some of the draw backs of the unit and maybe some of the upgrades people have done to improve it. Any feedback is appreciated. I have about 44 taps. Some sugars but mostly reds and silvers.

[Loch Muller]

I used to boil on an older half pint that my grandfather left me. It works great for the number of taps you have, definitely better than the old concrete block setups that we would use before my grandfather bought the half pint. I would get about 4 gallons/hr evaporation on ours, maybe 5 if it was really going right, but by the time I took it over the firebox was falling apart and I'd piece it together with whatever I had available (mostly scrap metal, zap screws, and stove pipe sealer). If you push the pan back towards the chimney it will pre-heat the sap better. I built a ramp in mine out of fire brick and sand to push the flames up to the pan. Other than that split your wood fine and burn it as hot as you can. I imagine the new arches work a little better than mine did. I decided to go with a bigger setup instead, which is probably too small already, but kept the old half pint for the memories I have with it. Have fun!

[68bird]

I made 27 gallons on a Halfpint last year from about 125 taps, I always had a turkey fryer going to finish on. Moved up to a 2 x 6 this year and 325 taps. I would say Loch is about on the money with boil rate.Have a slow drip go into the preheater pan if you have one.Bring it close, and draw off into the Turkey pot to finish, seemed to work well for me!

[Sundown]

I have a half pint and have used it for four seasons. As mentioned above, dry wood split fine will really help you maintain the boil. Keep adding wood a little at a time and don't let it burn down too far before adding wood. If I keep right after mine, I can evaporate about 8 gal/hour. I usually draw off small amounts at around 216 deg. and finish on a gas burner. I've never actually calculated wood consumption, but you seem to never have enough!! I would guess I burn about a 1/2 face cord in a 10 hour day. Also, I only run 1"-1 1/4" of product in the pan. I really helps with the evap rate but keep a close eye on it

[treehugger]

Half pints are great little rigs. In my opinion though they are definitely "gateway" evaporators. Had one for years. I would not expand much though. I had 50 taps, and typically would have to boil 10-12 hours per batch.

[Quagmire33]

What would you end up with for syrup after your 12 hour boil ? 1.5 gallons maybe ? Can't wait to do my first boil on it.

[johnallin]

I had a 1/2 pint for two years, great rig. You should boil off about 5 gal/hr, and with 2% sap should be able to produce 1 gal in an 8-9 hour boil. With 44 taps it's doable.

[JOELM]

Why is it that most people don't finish the syrup in the 1/2 pint evaporator pan but instead finish in a turkey fryer?

[DaveB]

Why is it that most people don't finish the syrup in the 1/2 pint evaporator pan but instead finish in a turkey fryer?

Not having used one I'm speculating here but I'm wondering if the half pint is more of a batch process type pan. On a full-sized evaporator you have a continuous flow of sap coming in and syrup coming off pretty regularly so there is little risk (lol) of burning the pan if the levels get too low. I'm wondering if you do a draw off on a half pint if it would lower the levels across the whole pan too low.