Smaller Fabricators - Who do you like? vs. Major companies

[BHMC]

So here we go...I have been looking at the smaller fabricators like, Patrick Phaneuf, Bill Mason & Smokey Lake. I know these guys make good products,
but who do YOU like and why? I also have in my mind... is it better to go with a major company knowing that you will have support later down the road if
you need it? Well those are the questions...what say you??? I am looking at a 2x6 unit.

[Pibster]

I have a Smokey Lake pan. Awesome workmanship.

[Marcus]

Smoky Lake has a great product and great prices.

[CampHamp]

I've been boiling on a 2x6 by Sunrise Metal for 3 years and like working with it. They're a small Amish shop out of Indiana. Heavy gauge steel throughout, lots of surface area to their flu pans and a good deal on their air-tight arch.

[bees1st]

Thor, up in Canada . Superb workmanship at a great price . Close by , and support .

[wiam]

Very happy with my Mason drop tube. Boils like crazy.

[1arch]

My initial investment rig is a 2x6 leader and my smaller equipment is Smokey Lake.
With Leader being a larger manufacturer support was available for some short comings I experienced however I had to push for partial resolution... I made some modification and repairs myself.
However my finisher, auto draw and bottler purchased from SL were delivered to my doorstep (they are local within 1 hour:emb:) I have since purchased miscellaneous item fro SL and now have discussions with a great craftsman as to my needs and his recommendations. I receive real feed back AND solutions instead of " we do it this way so we can compete". ( which is what I received as reasoning for design issues with Leader)
I have ZERO issues paying a few bucks more for something of quality and the way I like it.
In addition I have steam hood purchased from the Amish which I will probably replace or enhance due to poor design issues. I would prefer the stack to be 10" instead do 8" and the condensate gutter design allows jumping sap to land in with the expelling condensate. Condensation also drips down the stack so to increase efficiency I fabricated additional condensate deflection to solve this.
You asked, I vented however I still would not discount what the major manufacturers have to offer.

[relseek]

I can't say enough about Smoky Lake, they have great products, and awesome customer service! We have several of their products. We had our pan burn up and get ruined, my wife called and talked to Jim and he had us back in business in three days!! (That's with having the pan shipped to NY). Truly a great company

[Russell Lampron]

I like doing business with Bill Mason he's a great guy to talk to and has reasonable prices. He has been in business for a long time and I have never had a problem with the things that he has built for me.

[killingworthmaple]

I have owned something from all the small guys you asked about.

First evaporator pan set was from Mason great guy great prices and good customer service.
Second evaporator was from AA Amish 2x6 price was unbeatable however I had a small hole in front pan he was having problems with the new lead free solder at the time. Kind of hard to get a hold of.
Third Pan was from Phanof great craftsmanship and was willing to work with some special requests but his customer service is lacking.
Fourth pan set is a Smokey Lake good customer service, nice people, fair prices always trying to improve there design.

The big guys are good at what they do, I like working with small mom and pops and am willing to trade the big name for some savings in my pocket. With my last purchase I got in my car with pockets full of money and drove up to Vermont and looked at all the big manufactures rigs and was disappointed with many of them and ended returning home and purchasing from a small guy.

Nathan

[bigschuss]

I like doing business with Bill Mason he's a great guy to talk to and has reasonable prices. He has been in business for a long time and I have never had a problem with the things that he has built for me.

Completely agree. There is something about buying an evaporator from a one man operation in Maine…hand made, one at a time, and then delivered in person to your door. And great service thereafter.

[tuckermtn]

i have two Mason finnishers/canners - very functional and well made. Bill is excellent to work with.

i have a set of raised flu/cross flow Smoky Lake pans. excellent build quality and performance from Jim's pans. just bought a auto-draw from Smoky Lake as well - excellent quality. also - there was an honest-to-goodness high quality manual that came with the draw-off - not some grainy photo copied hand-out that i have received when purchasing a new evaporator from a major manufacturer 8-10 yrs ago. shows to me that Smoky Lake is serious about their products and support.