Help me figure out specs for a rebuild based on what I actually want to do!

[linearb]

Some people may remember that I burned down my sugarhouse at the end of last season. Much sad, also got a $26,000 insurance check plus another 5k held back against actual rebuild costs, no one hurt, so, whatever, time to move on with life.

What I had was a 12x16 structure, normal vents on top, with a I think 18"x53" D&G drop flue pan.

Thoughts: I made 17gal last year and was on track to make 30. I don't need to operate at that scale.

I HATE drop flues because coming from flat pans they are a pain in the *** which needs to be drained between boils any time freezing is a risk

I have the capacity to tap up to 200 trees on 5/16" lines with a sap guzzler vacuum pump, but, also, I don't actually care about tapping every tree every year, that was just all easy to access trees so I wired 'em all up.

What Do I want to do?

I'd like to do 6-10 boils a year, making 0.5gal - 1gal finished per boil, and that's it. I'd like an evaporator which is either raised flue (easier to drain!) or flat pan (generally ****tier, probably want a raised flue?)

I'd like to, as I did before, have ample shelf space and a hose-connected sink to make it easier to finish everything down there. I might eventually add a small RO, so having some space for it is fine.

More or less, I am trying to figure out the minimum footprint I should be looking at to do a rebuild. The structure I had was probably bigger than I need but with the interior space poorly utilized. I'd also like to figure out what models of evaporator I should be looking it; it's super easy for me to just buy new from CDL but that D&G setup was used and at a very good price, and I'm open to doing that but I think I need to figure out general specs of my evaporator to design the space well.

The old shack was wood floors and generally insane construction, the new thing will be on a concrete block.

I'm not trying to build until summer 2025. This is planning-and-line-up-contractors year.

[ebliese]

Did you overlook a divided pan or are you not interested in one and just want to pick between the raised flue or flat pan?

[ecolbeck]

Can’t imagine why you would trade a flued pan for a flat pan. I have the same evaporator you had and I never drain it. Sap of any marginal concentration will prevent a hard freeze. That being said, I wouldn’t say no to a raised flue if one came along.

[Pdiamond]

I like my little raised flue and next year I will be doing 200 taps with lines on vacuum. I usually do about 2 maybe 3 gallons per day when I boil all day, but I am retired, so I can stop whenever I want and finish the next day.

[maple flats]

I'm not sure who told you drop flues needed to be drained to protect from freezing. That is not true. If you have boiled at least 3 hours at full boil, the pans are sweet enough to not freeze down to about 10F, if going colder than that you can either drain or put a 50+ watt incandescent light in the firebox, that will give off enough heat to protect it to somewhere about 20-25 below 0. in maple season I've never heard of temps that cold. Just leave the pans, the sweet might slush on the top, but it will not freeze solid. I never spread my boils out, if I had enough sap to boil at least an hour I boiled. I did far prefer 3 hrs or more however. Once you have sweetened the pans, as long as you have not pulled all of the contents off, you no longer need a 3 hr boil. (the advantage of continuous flow)
I just find I prefer raised flue but whatever your preference, go with it. As for doing 6 boils a season, I'm no help. How was the size of the sugarhouse you had, was it big enough, or bigger than you needed? Just go by how it was for you. If the boil took too long, go 1 size bigger on the evaporator.

[Bucket Head]

Wow. I have never, ever heard anyone say, "bigger than what I need" when describing a garage, barn, outbuilding, work space, storage space or sugarhouse! Lol. I do remember your post about the fire and I'm happy to hear your rebuilding.
I have no idea what size building you need for sugaring- but don't go with whatever you consider what the minimum space would be. You have an opportunity to build a great structure. My only advice here would be to consider what other uses the building might be asked to support in the future, after sugaring comes to an end, if it comes to an end. What other hobbies do you have? Wife or kids hobbies? A nice-sized outbuilding will probably appeal to the next potential owner should you ever sell the property. Just don't make it so small that it limits things. And maybe it won't happen, but what if you get the crazy idea to go with more taps? I know, I know, that never happens to folks on this site... lol.

Good luck with the build, have fun with it and enjoy the new sugarhouse!

Steve