My temporary block arch

[Benny8]

1803018031Last Saturday my wife and I built our temporary block arch for this year. The ground had thawed beside the driveway in front of the garage, so I laid a base of sand and leveled my first row of blocks. Then dry stacked the second layer. I had an old heavy duty grill grate that I raised 3" off the bed of sand. My pan finally arrived yesterday, and we got a Nor' easter last night and into today. Friday morning my daughter and I will be boiling. This is our first year and we are sure that we will learn a lot. Any advice or critique is greatly appreciated. I will add pics to this thread as I get them.
Aaron

[barnbc76]

Got any way to make a smoke stack?

[Benny8]

Got any way to make a smoke stack?
Oh crap, for got to mention I have a sheet of diamond plate to act as a door and a 10' smoke stack for the rear.

[Super Sapper]

Looks good but make sure you split your wood smaller.

[Benny8]

Looks good but make sure you split your wood smaller.
I will do that. I have a chopping block and an axe for that. Figure I will have plenty of time to split while sap is boiling.:cool:

[retubjb]

Your arch is similar to mine. Is your arch longer than your pan? If so, I laid angle iron across the opening and then used block stacked vertically for my chimney. I put cap block next to the chimney block to block the extra width of the arch. I go up 3 block and then jam 5 in duct work in the open holes of the block to extend up the chimney. Crude but it works. My arch is dry fit also and I filled my block with sand to help dissipate the heat from the fire. My arch is going on 5 years now with only minor repairs. I see your avatar is a fuel tank arch. Are you switching over because I am planning on switching over to a fuel tank arch

[Benny8]

Your arch is similar to mine. Is your arch longer than your pan? If so, I laid angle iron across the opening and then used block stacked vertically for my chimney. I put cap block next to the chimney block to block the extra width of the arch. I go up 3 block and then jam 5 in duct work in the open holes of the block to extend up the chimney. Crude but it works. My arch is dry fit also and I filled my block with sand to help dissipate the heat from the fire. My arch is going on 5 years now with only minor repairs. I see your avatar is a fuel tank arch. Are you switching over because I am planning on switching over to a fuel tank arch
I don't have an avatar yet. That was another person who posted. My pan is 18x34. I have another pc of diamond plate with the 10' stack attached to it. That covers the distance between the back block and the back of the pan.

[maple flats]

The arch looks good, place that top row of bricks so the pan only overlaps the brick by an inch or less to get better heat transfer to the pan. Split the wood so there is at least 1 dimension that is 2" or less and keep snow or rain off the wood, dry rules.
Have fun!
Dave

[bigschuss]

Looks great! That's how I started many years ago. I used blocks for a stack as well.

Have fun!

[Benny8]

Looks great! That's how I started many years ago. I used blocks for a stack as well.

Have fun!
Thank you looking forward to tomorrow!


The arch looks good, place that top row of bricks so the pan only overlaps the brick by an inch or less to get better heat transfer to the pan. Split the wood so there is at least 1 dimension that is 2" or less and keep snow or rain off the wood, dry rules.
Have fun!
Dave
The pan will set on the 2nd layer of 8" blocks. The pan will catch each side by an inch. The smaller blocks were to set up against the edge of the pan to help keep the sides warmer.
Thanks for all the feedback!

[retubjb]

On a nice night there is nothing like boiling outdoors!!! The wind is a killer so I go redneck and make an enclosure out of metal T fence posts with 2x4x8's wired vertically to them and then tack tarps to the 2x4's, leaving 1 corner open for a door. This makes it much more fun and effective on the not-so-perfect nights.

[Benny8]

We got everything set up this morning. Had to dig the arch and wood pile out after the 18" dumping we got. Started boiling about 1130 am and shut down about 530pm. Boiled off 35 gallons. I was preheating the sap on my turkey fryer and adding as needed. I have 20 gallons of sap left to boil tomorrow and then 20 more up to my camp. My daughter helped me out today. It was a good time. I may be hooked. LOL
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[Big_Eddy]

Looking good! I can smell the boiling sap from here.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

Benny8,

Looks good, can smell the syrup already. This was from our first year making syrup( I caught the Maple bug badly), the following year we ordered a Mason 2x4 XL and built a Sugar shack. 18082

[Benny8]

Thanks Big Eddy and Jolly. Finished up what I had for sap today. My filter didn't arrive yesterday like it was suppose to,so I filtered with multiple layers of cheese cloth. I finished it to temperature because I didn't have a hydrometer, and I think I will have to pick one up and reboil this and refilter. I was pretty happy with it and the taste, but I want to get better.18083

[barnbc76]

Looks Good! Your never going to get clear syrup with something unless you use filters for syrup, even then I get some niter that gets through the cone filter.