one brick short of a fulll .............

[Rock Bottom Maple]

Hi, bricking a 2x4 mason. I used 71 splits and 15 grey brick. This included doubling up in the bottom of the fire box and the fences.
Starting in the front seemed to work. Everyting just fell into place from there. Only "pieces" used where over/under the door. All others
were a split either cut horiz/vert. As you can see. I did not have alot left over. Not sure of the grey brick. Just using it to hold fences up.
Can always swap them out with regular splits. Do I need more air in the channels between fences?? Increasing the depth would slow air down??
This is my first continous flow arch. So I am learning. Thanks for any comments. Good, bad or other wise.

[brass maple]

Should consider cutting an angle on top row of brick. Doesn't seem like much but would let you use that much more of your pan to heat for more boil

[Rock Bottom Maple]

thanks for the reply, will do. was also told i should make my fences higher. 2-2.5 inches from the bottom of pan. thanks again.

[brass maple]

Yes that would help out a lot too. Looks good, have a lot of fun and start thinking about you next bigger jump, because this hobby is addicting and you will consider getting bigger. Lol

[Rock Bottom Maple]

Here are some pics of finished bricking. Worked out, grey bricks on edge brought
air dam up to 2 inches below pan. So final brick count is 67 splits and 12 grey.

Started with sap level at top of draw off port (2inches). Let it get to half the port (1 inch).
Cracked preheater and ran it there.

1st boil 45 gals sap. 11+ gph wo/blower. Did not have it hooked up yet.
2nd boil 55 gals sap. 12+ w/blower. She'll will do more once I get used to blower.
Drew off a gallon of syrup from second boil. Is that good???

Gradient picture is from 1st boil. I left a lot of ice in bags. So 1st 45 gals may have been a little
more sweet? The second 55 gals had the ice I left behind. So probaly not as sweet?

[Jolly Acres Farm]

It looks good. I just insulated and fire bricked my Mason 2X4 XL prior to the season. I did cut my top bricks on a bevel up to the pan, this help with the boil on the outside edges. I also experimented with the gap between the pan and brick from the ramp back. I started at 5 1/2 inches and increased to 3/4 of inch gap. I found that at 3/4 to 1 inch that my arch became very efficient with and without the blower. I have had three boils now with this configuration and i'm getting 11 GPH without blower and 15+ GPH with blower restricted to about 25%. These GPH included start up, ie from the time I lit the match. I have only ran the blower 1 time unrestricted for 45-60 seconds, it turns my evaporator into an animal, unbelievable amount of steam and boil. In that short minute my wife and I were standing next to each other and couldn't see each other! Have fun. If you have any questions P.M. me.

[Rock Bottom Maple]

thanks for the reply. Been a crazy season so far. It's either frozen or just not running. Thanks again.

[BlaisdellMaple]

Here are some pics of finished bricking. Worked out, grey bricks on edge brought
air dam up to 2 inches below pan. So final brick count is 67 splits and 12 grey.

Started with sap level at top of draw off port (2inches). Let it get to half the port (1 inch).
Cracked preheater and ran it there.

1st boil 45 gals sap. 11+ gph wo/blower. Did not have it hooked up yet.
2nd boil 55 gals sap. 12+ w/blower. She'll will do more once I get used to blower.
Drew off a gallon of syrup from second boil. Is that good???

Gradient picture is from 1st boil. I left a lot of ice in bags. So 1st 45 gals may have been a little
more sweet? The second 55 gals had the ice I left behind. So probaly not as sweet?

:cool:so what is the purpose of the gray bricks, I have a 2x4 WF mason and I was getting the stuff to set it up for next season and the pdf from WF mason site on how to brick it didn't show the gray bricks

Thanks
Joe

[Rock Bottom Maple]

Hi, the grey bricks create an air dam. They force the hot air/gases from fire box. Up against pan as they are being pulled
back and out the stack. These are missing from the web site picture. I was told by Bill when I picked up my arch.
That about 2-2 1/2" would be good. I lucked out, with grey brick on edge. It gave me just 2". Hope this helps.