Mason 2X4 Rebuild?

[theschist]

I bought a Mason 2X4 Hobby XL this year with big ideas. I put in 90 taps and could hardly keep up with production. I would like to expand next year, but I already sunk a lot of money into this rig. Here's my idea, cut and weld the arch to extend it (probably 2X6 or 2X8), add a raised flue pan in back and modify the existing 2X4 pan to accept the flow from the flue pan. Is this something that is feasible, or should I find a buyer for my current rig and get a new one for next year? I also plan on a homebuilt RO system to assist, but that is another thread...

If this is possible, what are the best ways to get flow from the flue pan to the syrup pan? I have a friend that can weld anything, so fabrication is not an issue.

Thanks!!

[theschist]

Seriously? I got 88 views, but no one can help me on this? I just want to know if anyone else has done this, or if it is even worth the work. Someone? Anyone?

[G&D MapleSurgaring]

I personally would sell the current rig and buy a bigger set up so you can handle more sap.

[JTripp]

Well here's my thought, if your going to RO too, will the current rig still be too small? You are going to get rid of some of your volume by ROing.

[asknupp]

I am interested in doing about the samething with my 2x4. I hope to buy a smaller drop flue pan and then fabing my arch. Some suppliers sell threaded ss female ports that you weld to your pan. I'll see if I can find a pic and put it on here. But if you've got a buddy that can tig anything sounds possible.

[Snowy Pass Maple]

Build the RO - even a low pressure one run on a diaphragm pump - and you'll be fine with that 2x4.

We ran 280 taps on our Mason 2x4 flat pan this season. I have a day job as well, and never boiled past 1AM, and often didn't start until 7PM as I would have to collect after work. A preheater, hood, more dry wood and more RO throughput would have let us do even more. This was for a year that is closing in on average for our area. If we had seen a record year like 2013, this would have really stretched us. But my point is that 90 taps would be a walk in the park on this unit with a RO - and WAY cheaper and energy efficient if you build the RO yourself.

And put a blower on the evaporator if you don't have one. This was a huge help on our Mason 2x4 this year.

-Colin

[asknupp]

Went and looked at my pan and believe they used ss ferrule and welded a ss half coupler to it. Imagine you could use a nipple depending on how you want to run your plumbing. Cdl sells the ferrules.

[bowtie]

I have a mason 2x4 with smoky lake drop flue hybrid pan and blower, copper coil preheated and have 300 taps, that are below average runners for the most part, will finish with a little over 30 gallons this year. This was a below average year for my area and I had a hard time keeping up on the decent runs, some boils 12-14 hours. I did use some in seasoned wood but still was not impressed with GPh on rig. I am not interested in buying ,or building a ro, so my only choice is a bigger evaporator, hope for 3x8 with steam hood preheated. In my opinion if you want to expand you will probably want a bigger evap, no matter what you do to your 2x4 you will never get more than 25 GPh and that is with a lot of tweaking,super dry wood,regular firing, and sap at or about 1 inch. I have tweaked my rig and even with dry pallet hardwood rarely ever push the 20 GPh mark even though I was told I could get mid-20's. Some will say they get more but with limited surface area to work with, realistically, low 20's is all you can expect to achieve. By the way my numbers do not tell the whole story as I finish on propane.

[Snowy Pass Maple]

I have a mason 2x4 with smoky lake drop flue hybrid pan and blower, copper coil preheated and have 300 taps, that are below average runners for the most part, will finish with a little over 30 gallons this year. This was a below average year for my area and I had a hard time keeping up on the decent runs, some boils 12-14 hours. I did use some in seasoned wood but still was not impressed with GPh on rig. I am not interested in buying ,or building a ro, so my only choice is a bigger evaporator, hope for 3x8 with steam hood preheated. In my opinion if you want to expand you will probably want a bigger evap, no matter what you do to your 2x4 you will never get more than 25 GPh and that is with a lot of tweaking,super dry wood,regular firing, and sap at or about 1 inch. I have tweaked my rig and even with dry pallet hardwood rarely ever push the 20 GPh mark even though I was told I could get mid-20's. Some will say they get more but with limited surface area to work with, realistically, low 20's is all you can expect to achieve. By the way my numbers do not tell the whole story as I finish on propane.

This is something I was thinking about as next major upgrade to keep stretching our 2x4. I'm surprised you are disappointed with low 20s - that's nearly double what I get with a 2x4 flat pan. It seems like a reasonably priced upgrade as well, thanks to the relatively simple design. The only downside I can see is that you can't swap a front syrup pan for niter build up, so I would keep my 2x4 flat if I go this route.

I was wondering if anyone has used Smoky Lake's "high productivity" raised flue version - the price is much higher on that model - unless it cleared over 35 GPH, I can't see the cost making sense - and it's hard to believe getting over 35 GPH on a 2x4, but interested in any reviews.

I mentioned earlier we had a "close to average year" - that being around 1/3 gal syrup per tap on gravity. About 80 gallons of syrup on the 2x4 mason flat pan.

[Loch Muller]

Definitely add the blower if you don't have one, that makes a big difference on my 2x4. I'm running 205 taps, all buckets and bags right now with my setup. Really that's a bit too much, but I've been keeping up so far and haven't had to sell sap.

Next year I'm planning on adding an ro to do 50-75% of the water removal which should make a big difference. I'll probably end up with a flue pan setup on the 2x4 or a 2x6 in the future, but the ro comes first for me. Good luck.

[bowhunter]

I would also definitely consider building an RO. Even if you went with one of the really small designs using three 150 GPD home ro membranes and a small diaphragm pump you could take care of 100 gallons per day of sap while you sleep and work. These things will run overnight unattended recycling back to the sap tank. You would cut your wood consumption by 1/3. I have about 100 taps, an RO and 1/2 pint which is smaller than a 2 x 3. I made 26 gallons of syrup and only boiled 8 hours one time. I burned about 1/2 the wood I burned making 16 gallons without RO last year. I fed the evaporator directly from the RO and was able to draw off syrup about two hours after starting to boil with a sweet pan. Most boils I pulled off about a gallon of finished syrup every 2 hours. When I need more capacity I am definitely going to add RO capacity before I add evaporator capacity. The RO is a pain, but nothing compared to cutting all that wood and running the evaporator 10-12 hours a run.

[smokeyamber]

Before you chop up a nice rig, I would sell it to someone starting and then go for the larger unit. A 2x6 with RO seems to be the current high output setup. Be sure to go with a blower as well. If that turns out to be too small... and it will enventually it will be much easier to sell than a modified Mason. Besides the Mason's are very popular and have great resale value.

Just my .02 cents

[steve J]

I have the same mason rig but with a blower this year for the first time I was able to get 17 gal per hour out of it with out melting down the stack. I know Bill has a new pan for this rig rather than 3 troths he has 5 troths but I have no idea how much faster it boils than the standard pan. My guess is you can sell your current unit for just about the same money you paid for it and just upgrade to something larger.

[FordHeritageFarm]

I have a Mason 2x4 as well. I'm averaging 10 gph. My wood has not always been the driest, so part of that is my fault. I'm not sure how the back sap holder is supposed to be a pre-heater?? How many gph. did the blower increase your productivity?

[steve J]

I have never run it without the blower but I believe Bill said without the high end is 12 gph. The two years prior to this I was getting 15 running blower at half speed but I have managed 17 this year with it wide open. The trick I found was making sure that I run at full speed starting as soon as the fire is strong enough that the blower will not blow it out. By doing this I do not build much of a bed of coals and I am fine. If the coals start to build and you run it full throttle the stack turns cherry red to the point you almost can see thru it.

[theschist]

Thanks a lot for all the help. I did add a blower part way through the season. It did help. I was able to get my stack glowing using seasoned cherry, maple and oak. I am leaning towards selling the unit. I don't know if the RO is feasible due to having a heated space near the operation, but I could run it in my garage. Well, I have some time to work on it for next year. Know anyone looking for a Mason 2X4 in Pennsylvania?