Boil in front pan of full pint

[Greenthumb]

After last season being my first year on my smoky lake full pint I was impressed except had trouble getting and maintaining a boil in the final section of the front of the pan. Anyone else who has one had this. I will say last summer I did not do a great job of getting wood ready so my wood moisture was high. I know that had some to do with it and have been more on top of wood for next spring. I don't have a blower and have thought of putting one on but I think that would just add heat to the flues. Thoughts?

[maple flats]

Adding the right size blower will improve the boil rate for sure. I suggest you call Jim at Smokey Lake and ask what size blower he suggests. If your wood is dry it will also do better. Also, make sure you split the wood so it is about wrist size.

[buckeye gold]

I have run a full pint pan for 2 years now. The first year I struggled with the same issue and learned to keep small wood loaded as far forward as possible. I already had a blower so I added a nozzle to blow aof right under that section and it helped a lot. Smaller wood and dry wood with more recent loading is one thing to do. I just push the coals back when loaded.

Last year I tore my arch down and added 8" to it and reconfigured the AOF manifold. I left my pan sitting at it's original set and just welded a top on the 8" extension. I left a narrow rail for the front of the pan to sit on. we welded steel rods across this added top just low enough to slide a thin fire brick in and insulation. I insulated the whole arch as well. with the new arch I loaded forward still and pushed coals back. I extended my grates in the back instead of the front and left a wider gap so more ash and coals would fall through, this kept ash from obstructing my air flow and draft.

I could keep a boil in both front sections with this set up and could finish syrup in the pan if I wanted, but I don't I prefer to finish on propane and so I took draws at 217. Days I let it go farther I would have syrup made in the next section back as well and it would kind of mess with my gradient, so I would often draw early after start up and push the sweet forward with sap until I reestablished a decent gradient. I could just add that draw back a little at a time if it wasn't close enough to finish on propane. It's kind of a technical dance getting everything right on these small units as small changes have big effects. Keep working at it and you'll get her tweaked to run good. My first year I was all over the place with GPH, from 10-16. Last year if I was vigilant with my firing ad ni could keep her pretty close to 15 GPH at full heat and push 17 at times. From first fire to shutdown I averaged between 13-14 GPH. I think with just the right dry wood and firing diligence I could do 16-17 at full heat, but that is about the limit with my set up. I have toyed with adding more air, but I'm happy where I'm at and can run my 100 tap's sap in a day.