2x4 evaporator. How big do I make my shack?

[DMF]

We need to get this operation inside for 2018. I had a bunch of trees milled into lumber last year to use for our shack. We plan to build a post & beam looking structure. My wife and I are at odds on the size though.

We have a 2x4 evaporator, we currently bottle with an old coffee urn (hope to upgrade that soon) but that's about it for equipment. I have a stainless steel sink and a gas stove/oven to put in there as well. I was thinking a counter along one side...? Anyway, I drew plans for a 14 x 16 shack with a 4' porch/entryway with the space above it a loft for storage of buckets, tubing, etc. so the roof area would actually cover 14 x 20. Off to the side I have an 8 x 8 covered (but no walls) area to store the wood.

Is a 14 x 16 floor area sufficient for a 2x4 evaporator?

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[Ski Bum]

The old story is, I should have built it bigger! I built my sugar house 16X20 with a 16X12 wood shed, using UVT plans. I have a 2X6 evaporator and find that things are a bit tight when we have visitors. We are adding a 10x12 finishing room with water(sink) and a stove. I believe you are putting too much in a small space. You know once you get the bug you'll go bigger!! Good Luck with your adventure.

[Ski Bum]

P/S When you work as hard as you will to build this structure, it is no longer a "shack" But a House !

[Biz]

I'll work the other side of the discussion :) I have a 18x48" evaporator in my 8x12 timber frame shack and I have enough room to do what is needed, namely to boil sap. Stays nice and warm inside! But not much room for crowds, can only handle 3-4 people, and I do not bottle syrup inside. I am going to upgrade to a 2x5 for next year so it gets a little tighter.

I would have gone with a larger building but we won the 8x12 timber frame in a raffle and didn't have a lot of flexibility. Other than refuse it because it was too small :o

Dave

[Jcrawfo]

I think somebody on here said to figure out how much you need, then double it. That way you only need to add on once. Lol. I have a 18x63 inch evaporator. Sugar house is 220 square feet. Works great when it's just me and my dad in there. Add a couple of more people and it gets crowded. I do all of the bottling etc... in there also. We did have 15 first graders and a couple of teachers in there all at the same time. I would build it as big as you think you need it but build it so you can easily add on if the need arises.

[MISugarDaddy]

DMF
When we built ours, we had a 2' x 4' evaporator, but had plans to expand to a 2' x 6'. If you look at the pictures in our signature, you can see that we put in a SS sink, stove, etc. like you are talking of doing, along with some cupboards and counters. Our sugarhouse is 16' x 24' and there is not any extra room to move around when people come to visit. Putting in the 2' x 6' evaporator didn't really change our space much as it only reduced the distance between our feedtank stand and the front of the evaporator. I was fortunate that my wife supported making it the size we have and she wishes it was 4' longer. Our wood storage is not included in the sugarhouse dimensions.
Gary

[claystroup]

I think 14 x 16 will be fine for a 2 x 4. Just try and figure what is the most taps you want to do in the future. If it is 100 taps with a 2 x 4 you should be fine. If your property has the potential for 500 taps in the future and you have the time after work or on weekends to do more you will want to grow and 14 x 16 may be too small.

[Waynehere]

I agree, you should base it on your crowd size. I have a 20x20 with a 2x6 and sometime I wish I has gone bigger too. You just never know how big a crowd you will get. We usually eat there too, so you need to clear off counter space if you have any, with extra outlets on different circuits to avoid blowing breakers with all of the skillets and crockpots. LOL

[Revi]

We were a bit constrained by the width of the building that could be transported so we ended up with a 12x 28 sugarhouse. I wish it was wider most of the time, but c'est la vie!

[mudr]

I am planning on a 16x24 for my 2x6 this summer. I think it will be a good size for me, as I plan to beef up the headers so I can hang a 10 ft lean to on either side.

To piggy back on this guy's question- everyone wishes their shack to be bigger, but what is better length of width. Say, if I had limited funds but wanted to make my upcoming shack bigger than 16x24, would 4 ft of width or length be better?

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[WESTMAPLES]

your plan could work the way it is. im running my 2x6 under a 14x16 lean to off the side of my steel biulding it works ok for now.... all my bulk tanks are outside, and i bring my wood baskets in as needed, my plan is to buy another property move my 20x16 steel building on to it and make it the sugarhouse and the lean to wood and tank storage, but i also have high ceiling and the steel build already has a full loft i can stand in, so where i cant go out i will just stack it up lol good luck

[MISugarDaddy]

Mudr,
Four feet of width obviously will give you more square feet than 4' of length, but in our situation, it would give us more working room behind the evaporator where we do our bottling. I am sure everyone's situation is different, but we wish we had 4' more length.
Gary

[mudr]

Mudr,
Four feet of width obviously will give you more square feet than 4' of length, but in our situation, it would give us more working room behind the evaporator where we do our bottling. I am sure everyone's situation is different, but we wish we had 4' more length.
Gary
Yes. That was exactly what I I was thinking. 4 more in length is more overall Sq ft, but more length could be a better thing for overall workflow.

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[Maple Doc]

I took advantage of an 8 x 12 garden shed that we already had on our property. I had a cupola installed on the roof. The 2 x 4 Leader evaporator fit in well, with enough room to walk around on two sides. I then added an 8 x 12 attached sap room / wood shed ( the structure is now 8 x 24). It's cozy, functional and cute, but not a lot of room for visitors. Like the guy who won the timber frame building, you sometimes go with what you got.

Dennis


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