Anyone have experience with Smoky Lake Silverplate Evaporator?

[maplebird]

Hi all,
Looking to increase # of taps from 120 to 250-300 for the 2016 season. Currently boiling with a Lapierre Junior 18"x60" and unless I want to live in the sugarhouse there's no way that rig will handle the amount of sap I'll have to boil. Looking at the Smoky Lake Silverplate. It sounds like a great way to go but I'd love to hear any experience folks have with it. Go with the hoods and pre-heater or without? Thanks.

[jmayerl]

I have purchased many different pans from Jim since he began building in his garage 6 years ago. Always has been top notch pans at a good value price. I burned the heck out of my finish pan a few years ago and it barely rippled because of the way he forms the dividers for the pan. You will be very happy with the purchase. I would say yes to the hood for sure due to the high amount of steam that comes off flue pans, preheater is always nice also. If cost is a issue hold off on the preheater til the next season, I cost is no big deal then just get it right away

[MapleMark753]

Don't have the Siverplate, so slightly off topic... Three years ago Jim talked me OUT of buying one of his flat pans, and was still pleasant when I went with a Lapierre only slightly wider than yours (2x5). I'll not hesitate to buy from him when the time comes, expansion happens. Just a suggestion to consider along with the new evaporator route: Possibly a blower on your current rig, paired with a small RO might get you to your desired boiling hours for a season or so if you decide to delay purchase of a new bigger rig. Next rig for me WILL have hood and pre-heater.
take care, Mark

[MISugarDaddy]

Just a comment about your decision. I would suggest considering an entire package from Jim, arch, pans, preheater, and hood; rather than purchase a different brand of pans and then purchase a hood and preheater from him because his package price is better than having him build you a custom hood and preheater. I am in the process of having him build a preheater and hood for my new Leader Revolution 2' by 6' pans and the preheater and hood will cost about $400 more than the unit he is offering on eBay because of them being custom made for my pans. Also, as Mark said above, consider a small RO in your process. We went from 200 taps to 400 taps thanks to a small RO with our boiling time dropping to less than half what it used to be. That allowed us to get by with a 2' by 4' evaporator for a couple more years before needing to expand due to increasing the number of taps. Getting rid of 75% of the sap volume really reduces your boiling time.
Gary

[randomseeker]

I have exactly your setup (Lapierre 18x60 Junior) and just YESTERDAY ordered a 2 1/2 x 8 Smokey Silverplate airtight with hood, preheat and reversing syrup pan. I am very excited. I expect delivery in November. I currently have 300 taps and had to dump 1600 litres (Canadian eh?) at the end of the season because my rig would not keep up.

The proof will be in the pudding, but my response from Jim so far has been outstanding, his quotes professional, and his reference stellar. Even with the weaker Canadian dollar (currently $0.75 US) I opted to go with Smokey Lake. It was about $2,000 more than Lapierre, but Lapierre doesn't (or wouldn't) offer airtight, which I was sold on.

Good luck (to both of us)