thinking of moving up to hobby evaporator - questions

[Maplemonkey]

I am currently boiling on a custom pan that fits right onto a double burner camp stove (propane). With preheating on an electric apartment burner, I can get close to 3gpm. Last year did 20 taps and about 150 gallons of sap. I would like to go up to about 30 taps. The propane is pretty costly but is way faster and easier than cutting, seasoning, and stacking firewood.

I have the funds to purchase a small hobby wood fired evaporator and unlimited access to firewood.

1. In my mind it doesn’t seem to make sense to me at the volume I am doing to go to anything that would at least double my boiling GPM, when I would add the time and effort to obtain firewood compared to hooking up to my propane tank – Thoughts???

2. On the hobby evaporator websites there are claims for a 2x4 pan of up to 9-10 GPM. Are those claims legitimate?

3. If I were to look at purchasing a wood fired 2x4 evaporator, what upgrades would you suggest are must haves?

4. I live in the Finger Lakes of NY. Would you recommend one manufacturer over another?
THANKS IN ADVANCE!

[Big_Eddy]

Flat pan or Flue pan?
How big do you plan to grow and how many hours a week do you have available to boil.
A 2x3 flat pan on an arch should average ~6gpm, a 2x4 closer to 8. Both are suitable for 25-50 taps
An 18" x 60" with flue pan will be around 15gpm. Easily manage 100 taps with much less wood per gallon.
A 2x6 with flue pan will start around 25gpm, and can handle 200-500 taps.
These are planning numbers - there's a lot of variability depending on wood, firing, design - but these should give you an idea.

For 30 taps - you just need a basic setup. If you grow to 100 or more - you will want a float box and a divided pan for sure.

[Maplemonkey]

Thanks Big Eddy
I don't think it would make sense for me to go to anything less than 6-7 GPH and add in the time spent on wood. If I trade 20 hours of boiling for 30 hours cutting and hauling of wood, that trade off needs to make sense to me.

However, since I do have access to quality free standing wood at the location of the boil, I would love to get some recommendations on a wood burning rig that would do 6-7 gph consistently.

I could as an option also continue to use my current system to supplement and if I ever got bigger be able to get close to 8 or 9 gph by running a new hobby evaporator and my current propane mini-rig.
Thanks!

[Eliemma]

I purchased a leader half pint and have been happy with it so far. I got the half pint with a divided pan and also small drop Flues. It really does make a difference with the drop flues. The intensity of the boil comeing from the center section is a lot more agrressive. Ball park of around 8 gallons an hour. See you are from finger lakes area. Purchased mine from countryside hardware. If you do get one i would recommend getting two pals of the refract cement. One is no we’re close to enough.

[maple flats]

The evaporation rates on any wood fired evaporator are accurate, but only if you do everything right. The wood must be dry, it must be split wrist size and you must refuel at the right interval. In addition you need to add the wood with the loading door open only as long as necessary (have the wood ready to go in before the door is opened.
If you get one, it will take you a while before you achieve the published rates, but with practice they can actually be surpassed a little. Those rates are not from the time you first light the fire thru the end of the boil, but are the max. achieved after the evaporator gets to it's max. performance.
Unless you are processing wood entirely by hand, there should be no way it should take you 30 hrs to process enough wood to trade for 20 hrs less boil time. In about 40 hrs I process about enough to boil the sap from 850 taps of my own for an entire season, plus I buy sap on shares from up to a max. of about another 1200 taps.

[Russell Lampron]

I am currently boiling on a custom pan that fits right onto a double burner camp stove (propane). With preheating on an electric apartment burner, I can get close to 3gpm. Last year did 20 taps and about 150 gallons of sap. I would like to go up to about 30 taps. The propane is pretty costly but is way faster and easier than cutting, seasoning, and stacking firewood.

I have the funds to purchase a small hobby wood fired evaporator and unlimited access to firewood.

1. In my mind it doesn’t seem to make sense to me at the volume I am doing to go to anything that would at least double my boiling GPM, when I would add the time and effort to obtain firewood compared to hooking up to my propane tank – Thoughts???

2. On the hobby evaporator websites there are claims for a 2x4 pan of up to 9-10 GPM. Are those claims legitimate?

3. If I were to look at purchasing a wood fired 2x4 evaporator, what upgrades would you suggest are must haves?

4. I live in the Finger Lakes of NY. Would you recommend one manufacturer over another?
THANKS IN ADVANCE!

If you were to purchase a 2x4 evaporator a must have upgrade would be to add a blower. That is the easiest and least expensive way to add gph. A lot of people on here have and are happy with W.F. Mason and Leader hobby evaporators. The other manufacturers make small evaporators too and you should be able to find one that will work for you.

[wnybassman]

Next year I might have a 18x60 raised flue available that gets 13-16gph on average

[buckeye gold]

not endorsing anyone's product just giving facts. I had a leader half pint for a few years, then I purchased a Smokey Lakes Full pint hybrid drop flue pan to set on my half pint arch. I extended my arch to get more heat under the syrup section. I had aof on both. I averaged 4-6 gph on the half pint with upper limits of 7 with added air. On the smokey Lake pan I get a solid 12GPH average and occasionally hit 15 Gph. I also have a float box on the Smokey lake and would not be without one now.

[Calycanthus]

I had a small 18" x 48" evaporator I got from the maple guys (gratuitous plugs never hurt). I managed to get 10 gal/hr without air and better with.

I'd get something with flues and a cross flow finishing pan. If you can, float pans. Screw in ports for probes. Pre heater of some kind. And a ten minute timer.

The easy add on is air. Something to think of is some kind of ro.

[Drew Pond Maple]

If you were to purchase a 2x4 evaporator a must have upgrade would be to add a blower.
I 100% agree with Russell
My first evaporator was a cdl 18x48 with natural draft getting 10-12gph. I fabbed up a blower and was able to achieve 17-19gph.
More air is key

[Drew Pond Maple]

I had a small 18" x 48" evaporator I got from the maple guys (gratuitous plugs never hurt). I managed to get 10 gal/hr without air and better with.

I'd get something with flues and a cross flow finishing pan. If you can, float pans. Screw in ports for probes. Pre heater of some kind.
I did the exact same thing, except the preheater. The thermometer port made it way easier to monitor temp and homemade float box was great for sap depth in pans.
My pan had flues

[Maplemonkey]

Great suggestions from all
I like the looks and pricing on the Mason 2x4 with divided pan that looks like a sweet rig.

If I want it for 2019 it looks like I might need to order sooner than later

Any other suggestions or advice is always appreciated. Learning a lot from this forum

[johnpma]

I have a Mason 2 X 3 which I purchased from a member here. I have been very happy with the unit. We cut and burn good hard wood pallets. I have the blower on a speed control and with a roaring oak fire i can get the pipes cherry red. I was able to achieve 8-9 gph and hope to increase that this year with some "inside" enhancements I made with the bricking, insulating, and height of the wall. I do have a pre-heater which is over the flu pan which does a little but not as much as a pre-heater over the flame. Overall I'm very happy with the unit. We are going to try 100 taps this year with it up from 85 last year.

[lords sugaring]

There's always an option of making your own arch and buy a good used pan or new one depending on budget and skill set. There's plenty of plans on here for lots of different types of archs, 55 gallon drums, 275 gallon oil tanks, cement block archs, and steel built rigs. Nothing wrong with the home made stuff and you can save yourself a good chunk of money doing it yourself. Expansion always needs to be in the back of your mind, I'm sure none of us thought in the beginning that we would be tapping everything on our property, asking neighbors to tap their trees, buying sap, and or leasing property to tap. Once bitten by the maple bug there's really no return lol. I just purchased a 2x5 raised flue rig for around $3500, not sure of your budget or what the smaller rigs are going for. I'm stepping up from my home built 2.5 x 4 rig which did ok but I don't have 8+ hours to commit to boiling

[mol1jb]

There's always an option of making your own arch and buy a good used pan or new one depending on budget and skill set. There's plenty of plans on here for lots of different types of archs, 55 gallon drums, 275 gallon oil tanks, cement block archs, and steel built rigs. Nothing wrong with the home made stuff and you can save yourself a good chunk of money doing it yourself. Expansion always needs to be in the back of your mind, I'm sure none of us thought in the beginning that we would be tapping everything on our property, asking neighbors to tap their trees, buying sap, and or leasing property to tap. Once bitten by the maple bug there's really no return lol. I just purchased a 2x5 raised flue rig for around $3500, not sure of your budget or what the smaller rigs are going for. I'm stepping up from my home built 2.5 x 4 rig which did ok but I don't have 8+ hours to commit to boiling

Great advise here. I just finished building my new 2x6 arch with used 2x6 raised flue pans.
17342

It takes a lot of planning and helps a lot to have the pans first since not every pan set is exactly 2x6. And I had this welded with help from a friend since I have no welding experience. The stainless sides were salvaged. The angle iron I had lying around. The used pan set was from bascom and they usually have a good selection of different sizes. But it did take me 6 months to complete everything so ample planning and time ahead are key.

[A1Builder]

could you tell me what size nozzle is in your oil burner for your 2x6 arch.

[Sugarmaker]

What about one of these bucket R.O's which I know nothing about but might cut your boiling time in half?
Regards,
Chris