Tips for 275 oil drum arch

[ADK_XJ]

Hey all, I was lucky enough to score someone's entire setup for cheap as they are moving out of the area...in addition to tons of taps, tubing, bottles, filters, and a really nice set of 2x4 and warming pans I brought home a 275g oil tank arch that is in need of some TLC.

What're the tinkerer's tips for making an effective arch out of one of these things? The one I got has the top cut off already, a door on the front and a flue pipe welded to the back but otherwise it's basically just a bare half drum.

I have a simple welder and some sheets of steel that came with the rest of this stuff, should I be planning to weld in a ramp in the back or can I just use block?

[Merklin Maples]

Yes weld in a ramp. Install ceramic blanket and fire brick over that.

[racinee]

I would put in a grate to get air under fire and a cleanout door for the ashes

[82cabby]

Can you post a couple pictures?

[therealtreehugger]

I have a similar set up, but have just lined it with fire bricks, no ceramic blanket. Is the blanket just for heat retention? How much better will it work with the blanket as opposed to without?
Thanks

[ir3333]

a 1 inch thick fireblanket is perfect.Then firebrick over the blanket as far as your wood will be fed to protect it.
i don't think you need brick anywhere else.Make sure your door is insulated and air tight.Design your grate
with angle iron "V" up and air coming in underneath.No insulation required under the grate.

[Bellehollow]

Here are some pictures of ours. This has a SL hybrid pan on it here, previously we used a divided cont. flow pan.

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[Mead Maple]

ADK, I was able to get 15gph evaporation rate out of mine. I had an old furnace blower I piped in from the rear with a 3" steel pipe with some slots that ran to the front of the arch. Essentially creating air under fire. It boiled really well, I was using a neighbors continuous flow 2'x4' pan with a pre-heater. That was my first go with sugaring and I was hooked.

[ADK_XJ]

Here are some pictures of ours. This has a SL hybrid pan on it here, previously we used a divided cont. flow pan.

218022180321804 Wow, beautiful setup...thanks for sharing and sorry for my late reply.

[ADK_XJ]

ADK, I was able to get 15gph evaporation rate out of mine. I had an old furnace blower I piped in from the rear with a 3" steel pipe with some slots that ran to the front of the arch. Essentially creating air under fire. It boiled really well, I was using a neighbors continuous flow 2'x4' pan with a pre-heater. That was my first go with sugaring and I was hooked. Awesome, thanks - do you have any pictures of the setup?

[Hunt4sap]

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21849not trying to highjack,
I have alot more pictures of mine if you want more pm me

[antelope76]

I built mine in 2009 and still works great. I arched mine with sheet metal, fire bricks in the fire box and ceramic insulated throughout.

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[crzypete]

Hey ADK, I built one which you can see the link in my signature. Also, I'm just west of Saratoga Springs (15 minutes) if you want to come check it out in person.

Pete

[Pdiamond]

Hunt4, That's an impressive build. I have one question out of curiosity how does the fire reach the bottom of your pans with the metal in between?

[Mead Maple]

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[l3rian]

That's so cool how you can see the color change in the divided pan.

[ADK_XJ]

21847
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21849not trying to highjack,
I have alot more pictures of mine if you want more pm me

Very nice - did you just use angle iron for the grate? Did you make that yourself?

[ADK_XJ]

I built mine in 2009 and still works great. I arched mine with sheet metal, fire bricks in the fire box and ceramic insulated throughout.

21850 Great setup...I was just looking at ceramic blanket insulation, do you recall how much you used / needed to insulate the whole thing?

[ADK_XJ]

Hey ADK, I built one which you can see the link in my signature. Also, I'm just west of Saratoga Springs (15 minutes) if you want to come check it out in person.

Pete Great build thread - I just saved it, do you know how much blanket insulation you ended up using?

[Bellehollow]

I know on mine I used almost a roll - i believe it was 25' from smokey lake.

[crzypete]

I didn't use that much ceramic insulation. I fire bricked the box and just dud the bed and sides of the ramp. maybe 6'?

Pete