chopped 3x12

[blackstrapking]

Since the the new sugar shack is up it's time to get serious about a somewhat serious "evaporator". I've got several different flat pans that I've built. And I just cut a ss leader 4x6 syrup pan in half, as a back up. Saturday I go to check out a 3x12 I from a retired sryup maker. Thinking about shortening the arch in some way shape or form. My idea is to improve upon my arches consisting of cinder blocks utilized in the past. My question is; has anyone ever modified an arch in the past or have any suggestion regarding this subject.

Thanks, Jason

[Pete33Vt]

The biggest thing when modifying an arch is to make sure you can get the pans. You don't want to modiy them so that you have to special order pans. For one it would take longer to get them if for some reason they failed. Another would be cost. If you have to have pans special made it may cost more. But I see no reason why you can't modiy an arch. Just go by your pan dimension to start.

Pete

[Fred Henderson]

A few year s ago a friend bought a 2x6 Leader and he could not keep up with his 550 taps. so he went back to leader and they sold him an additional pan that the turn his 2x6 into a 2x9 Grimm. All he did was make the arch long and added a blower at the ash door. He did not increase the size of the fire box or the stack size. Both mistakes in my opinion. With a blower wood has to be added every 5 or 10 minutes.

[Parker]

If it were me,,(and learning from the many mistakes I have made) I would try to find some pans for the 3x12 and not invest a lot of time and effort in making something that has limited production potential and resale value,,,a flue pan makes a huge differance in the ammount of sap you can boil in an hour and the ammount of wood it takes to make a gallon of syrup,,,I bet if you looked around a littel you could find something decent,,,if you wanted I could do some looking too,,I know where there are a couple of rigs sitting,,not pretty and need work,,but could boil agine,,,,,

[ibby458]

As I understand it, you want to cut down an arch to fit the flat pans you have, as an improvement over the cement block arch.

I built an arch from scratch to fit a 30x60 flat pan. What I found was -

1. Brick & insulate the living heck out of it! Heat loss on a flat pan is unreal.

2. Calculate the square inch cross section of your flue pipe, and divide by the width of your arch. Keep the floor of the arch that distance from your pans after the fire box. Maybe just a bit deeper than that because - -

3. Your corners won't boil very well, unless you put in a couple fire bricks in the center to make the fire go out towards the sides before going up the stack. My 30" flat pan boiled a LOT better once I laid two bricks side by side about 6" in front of the stack opening. There was about an inch over the bricks open for some fire to go over them. Remember to calculate the square inches of all the opening to maintain at least the same area as your stack pipe..

Good luck. This project makes a nice transition from a cinder block arch to a flue pan evaporator. You'll learn a lot and enjoy a factory evaporator a LOT more if/when you get one!

[blackstrapking]

Pete,Fred,Parker and Ibby;

I thank you all for you comments and suggestions, "More food for thought". I will know more tommorow after I look at the beast. Think syrup pan is shot and flue pan is ok.

[Parker]

If the flue pan is ok then getting a syrup pan should be possibel?? Sounds like you might be abel to fab one up?? then you would just need a few more taps 8O ,,,,and the SICKNESS TAKES HOLD

[blackstrapking]

Parker,
I think I'm sick already! Got a good look at the set up yesterday. Got my exersise walking back to sugarbush. The fire bricks are holding the rust together,per say. And the many stacks of buckets are holding up whats left of the shack, no really! It's too bad, Vent flaps must have been left open for a number of years. Flue pan is also shot. But I'll tell ya I sure got one neat history lesson from that old feller. That was what made the trip completely worth it, "priceless." Well onto plan c or was it d?, I've lost track.

Hunting in Henderson,
Jason