my homemade arch in progress, 20" x 54"

[RigaudBeach]

So last year I bought a used evaporator close to the end of the season that looked like this

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I wanted to rebuild it because it was rusted through and through. So I took it apart.

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I figured I might as well just rebuild it from scratch keeping just the stainless steel pans. So I went to my local steel distributor (acier lachine here in montreal) and bought all the steel I needed, about 75$.

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I realized that my biggest problem last year was moving it. It took 4 men, straps and a lot of patience. So I thought since I don't have a fixed long term place for it (until the lovely city of Rigaud gives me my permits to build a shed) it would need to be mobile. So after many forum searches and youtube video ideas, this is what I came up with. I figured at most the total weight with fire bricks and metal fort the arch to be 600lbs (I overkilled the metal thicknesses, it would be a lot smaller if I had to start again)

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Any advice you guys would have would be appreciated regarding this idea. The wheels are good to support 300 lbs each on a 3/4" ball bearing. My local shop in st-laurent told me these would get the job done no problem.

So today I got to work on it a little more and this is where I am.

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Any advice you guys would have would be appreciated. Please try and keep it constructive if possible.

Thanks,

Simon

[Dennis H.]

Looking good.
Will this have to be moved each day or just at the beginning of the season?

The air filled rubber tires worry me. May cause it to bounce and be unstable.
Could you put another set of leveling feet on the wheel end and drop those down after moving it? Would only take a few minutes and would give another option on leveling.

[Bucket Head]

Dennis has a great suggestion. I wouldn't trust air-filled one's either.
Also, are the tires going to be at the firebox end of the arch? If so, insulation will be a must. Heat-up, then expansion, then a blow-out would not be good. Or even a tire fire from too much heat or an errant ember?

[RigaudBeach]

thanks for the comments guys.

Denis, I only plan on moving it at the beginning and end of the season, hopefully. Unfortunately I can't put another set of leveling feet because I didn't leave enough rectangular tubing when I built it and I don't have enough laying around to replace it. But here is what I thought of. Once I get it in place, I can easily jack it up with a car jack, remove the wheels and lower it down, then adjust the back end leveling feet.


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Bucket Head the tires will be at the firebox end, because when I need to move it, that's where the majority of the weight will be.

[RigaudBeach]

So here's the little progress I made this week. It's hard to get a lot done when all you have is a couple hours at a time.

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Let me know what you guys think and suggestions.

Thanks,

Simon

[Bucket Head]

Looks good. I figured the wheels would be at the firebox end since it's the heaviest. Good idea removing the wheels.

Steve

[optionguru]

Back to the original picture, is there a cover on one of the pans? One thing I did is cut away some of the angle where the pan sits to get a little more surface area exposed to the heat. Your arch is built so heavy duty I wouldn't worry about it causing any problems. I think I read somewhere when I was making mine that people had cut it so the horizontal part of the angle was only about 1/2" to 3/4" of an inch. With your dimensions you have a 148" perimeter, that will be an extra square foot of surface area and approximately another gallon an hour of evaporation. Looks great.

[DoubleBrookMaple]

One thing I did is cut away some of the angle where the pan sits to get a little more surface area exposed to the heat. Your arch is built so heavy duty I wouldn't worry about it causing any problems. I think I read somewhere when I was making mine that people had cut it so the horizontal part of the angle was only about 1/2" to 3/4" of an inch. With your dimensions you have a 148" perimeter, that will be an extra square foot of surface area and approximately another gallon an hour of evaporation. Looks great.

The perimeter covers a lot of area, as you said. I cut mine away for the extra surface area, and it certainly does help.

Here you can see when I removed the pan, how much area was not exposed. I saw that, and decided to expand the exposure. Quick going with a good circular saw and meal cutting blade. You can see how my top area is no brick, just 1 inch insulation board.

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[Wood burn]

Rigaud Beach i'm not to far from you i'm on the mountain i also put my arch on wheel so that i could move it around the year with my garden tractor .




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[Sugarmaker]

Good looking rigs!
I always though I should have started with something like that!:)
Regards,
Chris

[RigaudBeach]

Finally had a little time to work on the evaporator this weekend. Cut and fit the pieces. Welded them into place. progress is coming along, but I'm afraid the season is coming much faster than I had expected.

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[AndrewsofBow]

Looks great. Where did you buy the screw legs? I need those. Are they threaded into the support bracket

[RigaudBeach]

They are not threaded into the support bracket. I made them rather easily. In my case I bought a 3 foot length of 3/4 inch threaded rod, 6 x 3/4 inch washers, 6 x 3/4 inch bolts and 2 hockey pucks.

I originally wanted to buy them but couldn't find any anywhere at a reasonable price. These came in under 20$ and about 15-20 minutes worth of work.

here is where I got the idea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=froGwKKH5ho

this might give you a better idea/view

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[RigaudBeach]

Well finally made some headway lately. Got the stack all welded up. simple and easy design, hopefully it'll work well
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[RigaudBeach]

Last weekend I got all the final fit and welding done.

Please let me know what you guys think.

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[ronintank]

I like it. You did a really nice job on it.
Looks a lot like mine.

[pyro]

What dimensions did you go with for the firebox and ash box? I'd be curious to see pics of when you insulate and firebrick it.

[wobbletop]

Looks awesome. I wish I had the skills.

Only comment would be the single strap of metal across the top of the box. Are you worried that may warp and sag with the heat from the fire?

Any provisions for air under fire?

[RigaudBeach]

I'm getting excited. All that's missing is the insulation and bricking. Sap should be flowing here early next week. I'll have to do a trial run with water in the pans to burn off any excess paint and stuff and make sure she's working right.

I put that strap there because on the last evaporator I had I had a small fire/flame/air leak where the pans meet. I figured that strap with some insulation tape should do the job fairly well at fixing that problem. That strap is not structural at all so even if it starts to sag a little, I'll just bend it back up before each boil. If it ends up getting really in the way I'll just cut it off. FYI this was my first big welding project like this. I new to welding also since last summer when I fixed some things on the trailer.

The ash box is 6 inches high by 20 wide and 24 deep. The firebox is 20 wide by 24 deep and 20 high. keep in mind it will shrink once insulated.

I did however buy some Roxul comfortboard that's about 1 3/4 inches thick and and scored some firebricks off kijiji, however they are 2 inches thick, so I'm not sure what I'll do or the configuration. If anyone has any ideas please let me know.

here's what I got so far!

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[Sugarmaker]

Awesome build, should boil like mad!
Regards,
Chris

[Wood burn]

How many tap are you going to be running with that set up Rigaud Beach ? I just put in fifty taps over the weekend.

[RigaudBeach]

I will finish tapping tomorrow, but I'm guessing about 70 taps. I'll adjust depending on evaporation rate after the first boil.

[RigaudBeach]

Finished installing the roxul board last night and bricking tonight. I'm cutting it a little too close for my comfort.
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[RigaudBeach]

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its happening