Does anyone use a tent for a sugar shack?

[Alpal12]

Hey Everyone, I've been making maple syrup on my families land in the Upper Peninsula for the past two years. Last year had 120 taps going. I use a CDL old fashioned wood burning evaporator with a 4' x 2' pan. This year I wanted to have some sort of shelter to put over my evaporator in order to keep rain and snow from falling in while I'm boiling, and also possibly to keep myself warm but I lack the funds currently to build any sort of wood shack. I'm just wondering if anyone uses some sort of tent for their sugar shack, and if so what kind? I was looking at tents from Montana Canvas that have the hole to put a stove pipe through and those seemed nice, but really expensive. Any suggestions?

[lords sugaring]

I've seen pictures of plenty of pop up shacks, from store purchased to pallet frame and a tarp. Don't forget if you go this route you will also have to make some kind of opening in the roof to let the steam out. I was going to put one up this year but decided not to as I'm pouring my pad as soon as I can this spring and then building my shack.

[Michael Greer]

I made syrup a few years with my uncle in a blue tarp shelter. It worked well enough, but it was a pain to build it and have to take it down every year. It was noisy in the wind, and would frost up and snow on us if it was cold. So yes, it will work as a temporary measure.

[penfrydd]

I'm using a tent this year only. I used to sell yarn at craft shows so I already had an extremely sturdy (expensive) tent. The steam is no problem as long as you open up a side or two. However, the wind is another issue. It's likely you can't get any stakes into the ground. I anchored mine to my barn and to a huge wooden box where I keep my firewood for the evaporator. We're getting 18" of snow tomorrow. I'll let you know if it isn't standing on Thursday morning. Maybe I'll boil during the storm, just to melt the snow as it falls.

[Zucker Lager]

This is what I did 2016 because of the on / off rain. Sat just inside the barn but smoke and steam went outside. The barn blocked the wind Jay

17995 17996

[Cedar Eater]

I used a tarp angled down from the roof of my house to the hand rail of my deck during my first year of sugaring. Just that little amount of cover was great. If you get the slope right, the condensate will run down the slope instead of dripping. I would say a steep wall tent style would be good if you could open the gable ends to let the steam out. You have to keep the snow from building up.

[Lensman]

Yeah, this is my first year sugaring and I am using a 10' x 20' carport from Home Depot. I fit my barrel stove evaporator, work table, picnic table and grill under it. I have 9' of stove pipe to get the stack above the top of the tarp. The tarp is only a few inches from the stove pipe so for the section of pipe that attached to the carport frame I wrapped a layer of leftover ceramic blanket then sheet metal and used metal strapping to hold it to the carport frame.

I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow....

[Alpal12]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

[maple flats]

My first year I used a 10x10 peak roof type vendor's tent. The sides were left open but it was between my house and a shed, with 3' clear on the shed side and 3' on the house side. The evaporator (a Leader Half Pint) sat near the back of the tent and the stack went up at about a 50-55 degree angle. I screwed the sections together and braced it with EMT off the railing on my deck that was about 6-7' behind it. Just do what you must, but be safe. I've seen lots of pictures of 3 sided shelters made out of pallets and then a peaked or sloped roof over it. There are lots of places to find free pallets.