New 2x4 Mason

[JohnsSugarShack]

Well starting over this year. Wanted to down size and keep it in the hobby mode. So I sold my leader 2x6 last year and bought a 2x4 raised flue mason.
Finally got time to start setting up. Leveled and got the fire board installed yesterday. Will have the fire brick cut and dry fitted by this Thursday if all goes
well.
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[Ross]

Looks good. I see this has a base stack out the top. It looks like the ones on his website use an elbow out the back. Is it because it's a raised flue or does he sell them both ways?

[claystroup]

Nice! Lets see some pics of the pans Bill made. How many GPH is it rated for?
Thanks,
Clay (Mason 2 x 5 flat pan owner)

[Flatpan1]

I have been boiling on bills 2x4 raised flu for two seasons. It’s better than any 2x4 I have ever seen run or ran. I get easy 25/hr and if I pay attention to fire I can almost get 30/hr. Great rig keeps up very well with my 150 taps. Great rig.

[Flatpan1]

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[JohnsSugarShack]

Flatpan1 that's great to hear, I was hoping to get 15-18/hr. Wasn't able to get much information on this evaporator. Bill did say that one of his customers was getting over 20/hr. Might
have been you he was talking about. Ross as far as the arch design I'm not sure. When I ordered, I did ask Bill about the stack because of what's on his web site and he just told me
that it had the base stack. As far as the single pan evaporators the stack does come out of the back. I'll post more pictures of my bricking as I go and also of the pans when I unwrap them.
Currently still wrapped up just to protect them while bricking. Really looking forward to this season.

[Flatpan1]

To add some insight on the stack guestion. Before I had Bill make my 2x4. He made me a custom sized arch to fit on of my dads old flatpans. His production arches I believe all come out the back but he is a custom hoby shop and he made mine come out the top like my 2x4. Good luck with the new rig.

[Ross]

Thanks Flatpan1. Your rig is very, very nice! I love the design of Mason's divided flat pans. It's great to see his raised flue, too.

I was just curious about the arch. When I talked to John from Sunrise Metals he said that they tried designs with piping out the back but would only sell arches with a base stack on top because they are so much better. He also said that as a company they recently took another look at their hobby evaporators to see if they could cut costs anywhere and they all agreed there wasn't anything they could change without sacrificing performance.

Thanks again for the pics.

[JohnsSugarShack]

Spent the day cutting fire brick. Tomorrow I'll get them mortared in and hopefully I'll be able to do a test boil next Monday.

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[dannyac500]

Nice work John, I fininshed my new 2X4 XL Mason just a few months ago.

[judgejp]

You will love Bills raised flue unit, I get 25 gph consistently with mine,easy twice the flat pan output.
Pat

[Ross]

Good job. Looking forward to an update once you start boiling on it.

[Rock Bottom Maple]

Getting 13+ gph on my 2x4. Burning pallets and half the insulation you have. You should do better. I run 3/4 inch in the pan. Gets scary bellow that. Keep up the good work.

[JohnsSugarShack]

The days are going by fast, spent today mortaring everything up. Next will be getting the pans plumbed up and wiring up the blower. Put together 50 drops tonight going to replace all tubing and drops this year.

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[Person25]

Is this custom job that Mason did to get you a raised flue John? I havnt seen one from bill yet, bascoms and masons websites dont have them listed or shown, and I am very intrigued at upgrading from the 2x3 mason flatpan at 7-9gph to upwards of 18-20?! That would be awesome. For next year at this point but can never start planning to early. BTW, very nice looking brickjob on that arch!


after posting this and then googling it and looking around this forum apparently theyve been doing them for years, so i feel dumb, but Ive still never seen one in person or advertised

[Flatpan1]

Brick job looks great. I didn’t go with just the wall on mine I filled all th way back to about 3 inched from the stack and only left about 1/4 inch under the flues. Will be interested in seeing what evap rate you get with just the wall keep us posted.

[JohnsSugarShack]

Person25 I guess you could call it a custom job, he only makes about 6 raised flue setups per year. Bill told me that he focuses more on the small divided pan setups due to demand. If you're thinking of upgrading I'd order as soon as possible. Flatpan1 as far as the bricking I wasn't sure, when I talked to Bill he told me to put the wall in 15 inches from the back of the flue pan. I probably should have sloped it up from the fire box and then sloped back down in front of the stack like I did on my 2x6. Guess we'll see, If I'm not happy with the evaporation I'll re-brick under the flue pan for next season. Stay tuned.

[Flatpan1]

All you can do is try it. Interested in your gph with the different bricking. My pan boils from the fron all the way to the back very hard jumps out of the pan with the blower at half speed. If I could figure out how to send a video I would.

[JohnsSugarShack]

Finally did a test boil and got everything cleaned up today. I wasn't getting a hard boil at the back of the flue pan so I added another row of fire brick which leaves me about 8 inches open in the back. Just have to replace some laterals and drops and I'll be ready to go.

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[mol1jb]

Finally did a test boil and got everything cleaned up today. I wasn't getting a hard boil at the back of the flue pan so I added another row of fire brick which leaves me about 8 inches open in the back. Just have to replace some laterals and drops and I'll be ready to go.

You could make that back opening even less to maximize your flue pan. I believe my 2x6 raised only has 3-4 inches open at the back of the arch to keep the heat up in the pan as long as possible.

[Flatpan1]

Very nice. I only have a three inch space where the fire drops out of the flues and up the stack

[JohnsSugarShack]

Love this new evaporator. Getting 12gph using wet pine. Boiled down 98 gallons so far
drew off 1 1/2 quarts last night.
19805

[Flatpan1]

Just wondering how the new rig is working for you and what your get for gph

[JohnsSugarShack]

Finished up Tuesday, ended up with 17 3/4 gallons. I still have to clean up the evaporator not sure what I'll end up with that. As far as gph with dry hard wood I could get 20gph but most of my wood was pine that I cut in December so the best I could get was 13gph. I'll definitely be moving the back wall closer to the stack. And will have decent wood for next season. Over all
I love this evaporator and have nothing negative to say Bill Mason definitely knows what he's doing with these small rigs. Also all the syrup that I drew off was done, I didn't have to boil any more over propane just heat it and jar it.

[JohnsSugarShack]

Well said I was done once but the sap ran good last Thursday, ended up with another 160 gallons so I had to fire up. This time I'm done pulled the collection tanks last Saturday.
Ended up with a total of 22 1/2 gallons. Cleaning the evaporator up this Wednesday done once again. Was an excellent season with an excellent evaporator. A big thanks to Bill
Mason for this evaporator.

[diesels77]

Very nice. I only have a three inch space where the fire drops out of the flues and up the stack
Any Pictures of your bricking job? I have a Mason raised flue pan set ordered and need to modify my arch for it.
Thank you,
Scott

[toothfairy050]

I am looking at a used Mason raised flu that has slight warped front pan for 2500.
What are your thoughts?

[bryankloos]

whats the cost new?
I have a 2x4 with flat pan, all the bells and whistles, flat pan.
I think new with the raised flue and front pan it would be close to that...?

[Jack L]

bryankloos how many gph are you getting with the 2x4 XL? Thinking about one for next season.

[bigschuss]

I am looking at a used Mason raised flu that has slight warped front pan for 2500.
What are your thoughts?

I'd research a new one. I can't find anything on Bill's page currently that is over $1600? Did he ever make a larger more expensive unit? Not sure what size you're talking about...but assuming a 2x4 I'd just go brand new.