Hobby Evaporator

[Tyler]

First time poster here. Thanks for all of the guidance and tips that you all provide on this site. This year was my first year sugaring and I used a block arch and steam pans to produce 2 gallons. My kids and I had a blast doing it and we can't wait until next year. Im looking to purchase a hobby evaporator and have been looking at the Leader Half Pint or the Mason 2x3. I know that this is an addiction, however, it is highly unlikely that I will tap more than 25-30 trees. So, my question is out of the earlier mentioned units which would you recommend. I also have been looking at the Mason 2x4 but Im worried that I would have to tap more trees to have enough sap on hand to run that unit. I am only looking to boil on the weekends and produce enough syrup to use at home and make a few gifts to give away. Please let me know what you think. I know that this same topic has been explored before but I appreciate any advice that you care to share. THANKS!

[mike z]

I'd stay with your current model for one more year and see where you are after that. This hobby has a way of blowing up on you. There is a lot that can be learned even from using a simple block arch. And you still can make the best syrup ever. :)

[Birddog]

I bought a Mason 2x3 and used it for the first time this spring. I had been debating whether or not I should go 2x3 or 2x4. I'm very happy with what I have. I made about 9.4 gallons of syrup this spring. I only make what I need to give to family and friends. Last year I made just over 2 gallons on hotel pans. Having said that Mike gave some good advice.

Have fun with your decision. By the way I thought between 9 and 10 gallons would be enough. I already see I was wrong. Maybe it's never enough.


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[bowhunter]

I have a half pint and it's ok, but my impressions are that the Mason 2 x 3 is a little better evaporator. I think the arch is more substantial and the boil rate is higher. If you do decide to go with the half pint you can always add an RO or buy the high output half pint replacement pan from Smokey Lake Maple if you end up taping more trees later. The half pint will boil about 5 - 6 gallons per hour without a blower. If you have really dry, small wrist size wood you can get maybe 6.5 - 7 gallons per hour without a blower. The Smokey Lake high output pan costs about $1,200 and sits right on the half pint arch. Several people on this forum have the Smokey Lake pan and report getting 12-15 gallons per hour. Jim claims it will do 15-20 gallons per hour, but I think it's pretty difficult to achieve.

[dblact38]

MikeZ is right, stay simple use what you have, easy clean up at the end, there's lots to learn buy doing simple. As a weekend hobbiest myself, I use a simple evaporator, cheap and I still get the delicious liquid gold at the end of the season and still learning different tricks with my evaporator

[asknupp]

For the most part I am a weekend warrior as well. I've got a 2x4 continuous flow pan and with only about 25 taps was having difficult time having enough sap at times to boil with. Went with another 30 taps and I was flooded after that with 12 to 16 hr boils. Point is either keep it simple or plan for what you might want to do 2 or 3 yrs down the road. Addictive and expensive. I'm now shopping for a flue pan and constructing a sugar shack. Wife is loving it.lol

[SPILEDRIVER]

no doubt in my mind id go with the 2x4 mason........i myself cant stand the half pints

[Tyler]

Thanks for all of the replies. I am definitely going to buy an evaporator, however, I understand that some of you advise keeping what I have. I was seriously thinking about the mason 2x4, as it is about the same price as a half pint, but I'm concerned that I won't have enough sap. How many taps would I need to run in order to feed it properly? I can only boil on weekends. Thanks again for the helpful advice!

[bowhunter]

If you only boil on week-ends you should have plenty of sap with 25-30 taps. When the sap's really running you should average a gallon a day per tap and maybe up to 1 1/2 gallons per day. The sap won't run every day of the week most weeks, but you should still get at least 100 gallons a week to boil. If you boil at 10 gallons per hour that's still 10 hours of boiling per week end. If you get a big run you might have 200 gallons of sap to boil and that would require about 20 hours of boiling.

[Super Sapper]

At 2 inches it will take 10 gallons to fill the 2 X 4 with flat pans. The you need to figure in what the shortest time you would like to boil time the evaporation rate. Say 3 hours at 12 gallon per hour would be 36 gallons plus the 10 to fill it.

[NH Maplemaker]

Tyler, check this out! This guy lives near us and has sold a lot these to folks around here! People speak very highly of them! They have a very high boiling rate and they come with everything to make syrup! Bricks, blanket, stainless steel pan! all for one price!
http://s930.photobucket.com/user/AndressMetal/library/ look under recent uploads. Hope this helps!

[Tyler]

Thanks for all of the advice!!!!

[Tyler]

Over the last few days I have spent a lot of time researching this and I also called wf mason and he was a huge help and answered all of my questions. I also called leader. That being said I think I have narrowed it down to the mason 2x3 xl, leader half pint or the mason 2x4. Can anyone make any suggestions/experience based upon those three? Thanks again for the advice.

[Birddog]

I got the Mason 2x3. I'd recommend getting the blower it made a big difference. I love mine and would buy it again.


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[Tyler]

Ok, so Im also very indecisive and I can't make up my mind....... Should I go with a Mason 2x4 or a Mason 2x3 with blower? How much improvement would the blower make? I talked to Bill the other day and I must say he is a true gentleman and answered all of my questions. Also a friend of mine suggested a Dominion and Grimm 18x48 which throws another option in. Thanks again for all of the advice, this is a great place to learn the ropes.

[SeanD]

If you are set on getting an evaporator, I'd recommend the 2x4 just because it gives you a little more room to handle more taps or more flexibility of when you can boil. When I boiled just on the weekends outside I found that a lot of things compete for that time not even taking into account when the weather is lousy. There were some seasons where I feel like it rained every day I set aside to boil. The slightly bigger pans allow you to fall behind a little and catch up quicker if you have to.

The other thing is, it doesn't seems like people hold onto the small, hobby-sized set ups for very long. People seem to max them out after a season or two. That's a big investment to flip in a couple of years. Based on info I got here, I maxed out my block arch until I made the jump to a 2x6 with flat pans on about 50 taps. That gave me a ton of flexibility. I was mostly guided by limited funds, but looking back I think it was the smartest thing I did.

Anyway, you know your situation best. Do the math on boil rates, the amount of storage you have, and how much time you can devote to boiling. Set up some scenarios where if you go into the weekend with 60 gallons, 90 gallons, 120, etc. what that would look like in your schedule. If you are using this year's data, just add 25-50% to get to a typical year.

Good luck. Let us know what you end up doing. You really can't go wrong and you'll be happy with whichever one you get. No matter what size, you'll be polishing it and staring at it all winter anyway!

Sean

[Tyler]

Thanks SeanD. I do like the idea of a 2x4 as I can only boil on the weekends. What would be the minimum number of taps to run a 2x4 on the weekends without running out of sap?

[asknupp]

Same boat for me last year Tyler. Purchased a 2x4 continuous flow from smoky lake for 25-30 taps and found that I was short on sap. Added another 30 taps and was then swamped with sap.looking for a flue pan now. If I was to do it all over again I'd go bigger to shorten up my boils. Its a fun hobby but 14 hr boils can get tiring. 3 hour boils2-3 times a WK plus wkends is what I'm striving for this coming yr. Plan for the future say 3-4 years from now and youll save some money in the long run.

Andy

[Loch Muller]

The only thing I wish my Mason 2x4 had is reverse flow on the pan like his xl model does. With your tap count I'm not sure it matters, but if you do add more and or get into a reverse osmosis it would help a lot. I've just bought the majority of another producers equipment so I'll be running a much bigger evaporator next season. Might have the 2x4 up for sale in the near future. Good luck.

[Ryan August]

r u still un decided. I had a half pint and always struggled to get anything great on the GPH. Got a 2x4 with blower and high out put arch. Worked well this year. probably trippled my GPH with it. The blower, I dont have GPH numbers with or without it but can say the boil really took off with the blower on. I had about 90+ taps this year and was not over whelmed but also this was not a great sap year. I'd spent a 6-8 hour day once a week and one or 2 short nights during the week and stayed ontop of things. Took no time at all to get up to a boil. 5 gallons in the pan would get me started. so even if you have just 30 gal to boil, you would be good and done quick, 2-3 hours from start to finish. ON the half pint, 30 gals would take me all day.