Cheap Evaropator Pans

[tessiersfarm]

I run a small farm in Maine and decided to do syrup a couple of years back.

The first year I figured out the turkey cooker wasn't the answer to a maidens prayer.

I built a small wood fired evaporator out of an old boiler tank, which needed a 27 x 48 pan. I couldn't afford to have one built so I Made it myself with no welding.

I found an old stainless cooler cabinet out of a resteraunt and stripped the two sides off. Each piece was 32x39. I bent 6" legs up on the two long sides using my brake. I then cut a piece of 6x6 wood blocking to fit between these two sides and clamped the whole thing in my hydraulic press. (I could have done the same thing with a couple of planks and some clamps). Next I bent the stainless like a christmas package to form a 6" end with the openings up. I bolted a couple of handels on to hold the bends shut and It works great.

Two seasons of boiling for about 100 taps and I am just as happy as ever

Not Pretty But Cheap and Effective.

[xulgiy]

What is your rate of boil with your setup? I'm in the process of designing flat pans for an oil tank arch. I'm planing on a 2X2 with 3 dividers (front) and a 2x3 with a single divider (rear). I'll be running about 50 taps but have no idea what kind of rate to expect.

[tessiersfarm]

I have 2 pans 24x27 for a compined 27x48. I don't have any dividers in the pans but they are connected by a pipe. I drip into the back pan from a pre-heater pan. When I run out of sap I laddle the sap from the back pan into the front and fill the back with water to wash with. When the front gets to about 1" - 1 1/2" deep I transfer it to a stainless stock pot on my turkey cooker, to finish. That is about 3-4 gallons of syrup or sap to finish.

It takes about 1 hr to get things up to temp and boiling good then I can do about 15 to 18 gallons of sap per hour depending on temp and wind conditions. This year I have a building to set up in so I hope the wind and temp won't effect me.

I use a 150 gallon stock tank that I use to store sap and I normally boil off when I get it full and it takes about 9 or 10 hour start to finish. I also use 55 gallon drums hooked to pipe lines that I collect with so all told I can have up to 500+ gallons of sap.

You have about the same pan area as I have so your boil rates should be similar if you efficiency is close to mine. I usually figure about 3-4 gallons of sap per tap per week, so you would get 150 to 200 gallons per week. Perfect for a boil.

This is only my limited experience so take it for what it is worth!

Good Luck

[xulgiy]

Thanks a lot for the info. That seems like a great rate to me. I'm used to a small barrel set up on a 24 X 33....that thing is deathly slow. With dry wood I get just over 3 gal / hr. You wouldn't have a pic of your rig, would you?

[tessiersfarm]

I can't seam to figure out how to post pictures.

I would be happy to e-mail them.