Size of pan's?

[Bucket Head]

Hi Guy's,

This question goes out to all the 2 1/2 and 3ft. wide evaporator owner's.

My father and I are thinking about getting a bigger evaporator. Some day we would like to expand a little bit. But right now, we would love to reduce our boiling time. ( I'm sure everyone here has had this dilema, LOL.)

I was wondering about the sizing of the pan's on the 2.5 and 3 evaporator's.

How long is the syrup pan on a 2.5 wide rig? Are they 2.5x2.5? Are they longer? I alway's thought the flue pan length was what changed as the rig got longer- 2.5x 7, 8, 9, 10, etc.

Is the syrup pan on a 3x8, 9, 10, etc. alway's 3'x3'?

What size rig do you have? What size pan's do you have? How many gallon's per hour does it evaporate?

I'm trying to determin what size rig to shoot for, providing we do upgrade. I'm leaning toward's 2.5 wide pan's and stretching my arch.

What's the best way to go here?

Thank's
Steve

[danno]

Pan sizes vary. I've got a 3x10 and I've seen 5, 6 and 7' flue pans for this rig. The longer the flue pan the better the evaporation rate. On my 30x8, my syrup pan was 30x30 and my flue was 30 by 5.5' I think that's pretty standard for a 30x8. If you're making the arch yourself, just find the pans you are looking for and stretch the arch to accomodate the pan sizes.

The theory is the narrower the arch, the less wood you burn. The longer the pans, the better evaporation. Some say that the flue pan does not boill as well wih the long, narrow rigs (3x12) but I don't know that to be true. My 3x10 will do a 100 gph.

[jdj]

We have a 3x10 leader drop flue, wood fired traditional arch( not air tight and no blower). The flue pan is 3x6, the syrup pan is 3x4. We also have a 3x6 steamaway. Average evaporation rate is 140+ gals/hr.

[tuckermtn]

we have a early 90's Grimm raised flu wood fired...it has a 2.5 x 2.5 front 4 channel pan, and a 2.5 x 5.5 raised flu rear pan. Grimm arch with very leaky front doors and no blower

We boil 300-350 taps (mix of buckets and tubing, w/ 100 on vac.) on this pretty comfortably. our average is 50 gph, using 1 cord of wood per 18-20 gallons.

link to photos in signature...

[PATheron]

Steve- Our evap is a 3 by 10. The flue is 7 and the syrup is 3 I think. Its a raised flue and the syrup pans are cross flow. Mine does 90 gph without really even trying hard. We use too big wood so if we had better wood I think it would do considerably better. Two things I would recomend thinking about. One is the bricking really makes a difference on how good the rig works. Back under the stack you build a little box with the brick where the hot gasses have to go back down and then up the stack. There are specs for this and as you adjust them you affect the drafting, etc. Take your time and talk to the manufacturer when you do that. Also the cross flow syrup pans are real nice as far as keeping a pan clean. I need to buy an extra one this year so I have a clean one ready. We had a lot of trouble with sand. Theron

[tapper]

Steve,
I have a 2 1/2 x8 leader drop flue. The flue pan is 5' and syrup 3'. This is the way Leader se it up for me. I think you can spec them out any way you want but on mine if the syrup pan were much shorter the flues would be getting damaged by wood. Maybe a good case for raised flue?
I have preheater,hood,inferno arch and average about 75 gph.

[cncaboose]

I have a 3x8 wood fired drop flue by Phaneuf with a 3x3 syrup pan, not air tight, no preheater yet, no blower, no hood. Just a plain rig. I'm happy with it and get 50-60 gph once it's warmed up. It gets the job done for me on 200 taps after my regular job is done. Ian

[maple flats]

I have a 3x8 with a 2' syrup pan and a 6' raised flue pan. I canget 75 gph easy but when i do the sap in the flue pan jumps a lot and I lose some at the joint where the hood meets the flue pan. Before next year I am building a preheater into a 6" high hood extention that will hopefully address the leakage problem. This year I got most of the preheater made but did not get time to make the extension to mount it in so it has not been used yet. Part of my leakage problem stems from a slightly crushed top lip on the flue pan where the first owner tried to stand to install his stack pipe when it was brand new. Basically you are better going a little longer with a flue pan and shorter on the syrup pan because most of the evap rate comes from the flue pan. The suggestion of cross flow is also good but mine is not. I have however thought of getting a spare syrup pan to clean while one is being used and just swap it out each boil if needed. Sugaring seems to be worse in the syrup pan because you are getting closer to syrup.

[Fred Henderson]

I have the same rig as cncaboose. I have a hood and preheater on the flue pan (5'). My arch has 1 " of ceramic fiber and then the fire brick. Although I do not have a water meter in the line I have calulated that I am evaporating 80 -90 GPH. This year I made 74 gals of syrup and used 4 1/2 face cords of wood.