box woodstove as an evaporator?

[sap seeker]

Greeting all - stumbled upon this site while looking for ideas on building an evaporator and have been so impressed with all the great ideas and information sharing. Got back into tapping trees after a 30 year layoff with my young children last year and was ill - prepared. Just purchased a 18 X 27 s.s. pan off of ebay after using a lobster pot on a clam cooker last year. Want to decrease my boil time and dollars spent to produce. First thought about the barrel idea but wondered if an old cast iron box stove outside with the covers off might be sufficient for only 12-15 taps. Any and all input is appreciated, thank you.

[mapleack]

If you could modify the top of the stove so your stainless pan was in direct contact with the fire, I'd think it would work great for 15 taps.

[TapME]

First of all welcome to the site. If the bottom of the pan can be exposed to the flames from the fire it could boil faster than your lobster pot. If you have access to 55 gallon drum you could by a barrel stove kit and make one that way. I have used one for 2 years and it did fine for 35 taps, just a lot of work to keep up. And everything is also based on how much money is available too. It all works sometimes better and sometimes not.

[Clan Delaney]

You should also look into lining the inside of the stove with brick - either fire brick of just red brick - whatever you can afford. A stove is designed to radiate heat. For it to work as an efficient evaporator, you want to force as much of that heat up and into your pan.

And welcome to the site!

[sap seeker]

Thanks for the responses guys, keep em coming - its amazing to get any this time of year but its quite obvious you are all seriously afflicted with the tapping bug...ha ha.

Yeah it was funny last spring. Standing around a hardware store and listening to a couple of people talking about tapping trees. Brought many a great memory flooding back of getting off the school bus at my grandfathers farm and grabbing the tractor and trailer to go collect with him. Homemade ash spiles and just a plain barrel with a galvy. wash tub to boil, great memories and it didn't kill any of us..... Picked up one tap right then to show my 4 and 7 yr. olds the process and they liked it. Couple days later was headed off to the local sap house and buying more stuff! Like all the rest of you, hard to stop once you get started. Don't have a lot of good sugars around me but enough to make some product for friends and family.

Reading about the barrels that do 5-6gph impressed me and I'm willing to go that far if the gph's are significantly better than my box stove idea. If the results would be similar, I already have access to an old box wood stove so no effort. Some very impressive block and brick ideas on here that I certainly haven't dismissed either. Whatever route, it has to be a "portable" situation as I don't have room for a permanant setup. Thanks again guys.

[sap seeker]

Well, gentlemen, I've scrapped my box stove idea, pretty small fire box, etc, etc. My latest thought was using an old Ashley wood heater / circulator. Remember the ones with the cheap tin covering and very ugly??? My pan would fit almost perfect after cutting the top away. Aditionally, its a bigger firebox, already firebricked, and has a grate and ash pan. The draft system is a small box on the lower right hand bottom that could easily be "supercharged' with a blower of some sort. Even would be willing to remove the tin covering and block around if that would increase gph. What do you think guys, would it get me the 5 gph I'm looking for? I'll only have 15 taps so that rate would work for us. Any input is appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Sugarmaker]

Sap Seeker,
I think the Ashley stove would work fine. Not sure on the 5gph? Get good dry wood fairly small and it should boil like mad.
Regards,
Chris

[sap seeker]

Ended up going with the idea of de-tinning an Ashley woodstove as a firebox for a homemade sap evaporator. It's already firebricked but do you guys think it would be worth the investment of me buying enough ceramic blanket to wrap the outside? Reading all that I have from you guys, seems like the premise would be to hold in as much heat as possible and force it up under the pan? If the blanket would do this and help me increase my boil, I'm all for it. Thanks for any input gentlemen.

[royalmaple]

You beat me to the ashley stove idea. Been there done exact thing.

I cut the tin off an ashley stove, and cut the top, set a pan right inside the top.

Couple of things. If your pan does not have handles on it, add something so you can lift the pan off the stove when you have a batch ready to finish.

Also you will have a burn ring on the pan where the flames go around the pan and over the sap level in the pan. No big deal and not going to hurt the syrup but just hard to clean off and will always happen when you insert a pan into the flames with liquid level below the flames.

I don't know how many gph I got on mine when I did it that way, but I didn't wrap any blanket around the box. It wouldn't hurt but just pound a bit more wood to it and get the sides blushing and you'll be fine.

[sap seeker]

You beat me to the ashley stove idea. Been there done exact thing.

I cut the tin off an ashley stove, and cut the top, set a pan right inside the top.

Couple of things. If your pan does not have handles on it, add something so you can lift the pan off the stove when you have a batch ready to finish.

Also you will have a burn ring on the pan where the flames go around the pan and over the sap level in the pan. No big deal and not going to hurt the syrup but just hard to clean off and will always happen when you insert a pan into the flames with liquid level below the flames.

I don't know how many gph I got on mine when I did it that way, but I didn't wrap any blanket around the box. It wouldn't hurt but just pound a bit more wood to it and get the sides blushing and you'll be fine.

Thanks for the input RoyalMaple - should be sufficient to handle 15 taps worth of sap I'm hoping.

[Sugarmaker]

Sap Seeker,
15 taps sounds very do-able. Plan to get about 3 gallon of finished product. And plan to carve out some quality time for boiling. :)

Chris

[sap seeker]

Sap Seeker,
And plan to carve out some quality time for boiling. :)
Chris

Isn't half the fun?:D I'm sure my beer intake will go up that month...thanks guys.

[royalmaple]

What part of the state are you in?

15 taps should be no problem on your rig. If you have a container to store sap in, bury it in the snow and keep it cool so if you can't boil all the time the sap will stay chilled and last longer without spoiling.

[sap seeker]

What part of the state are you in?

15 taps should be no problem on your rig. If you have a container to store sap in, bury it in the snow and keep it cool so if you can't boil all the time the sap will stay chilled and last longer without spoiling.

I'm in central Maine. Got some nice 5-10 gal. drink coolers, used those last year, worked good for storage. Scored 4 sweet sections of stove pipe and 2 elbows at the dump today too boot. It's 8" so all I have to buy is an adapter...free is good!:D

[sap seeker]

Got a chance to fire up the modified ashley sap boiler yesterday and was a little disappointed in its performance....maybe I was expecting too much. Took me 2 hours to boil down 5 gal. of water but in fairness it was ice cold lake water. It had a trememdous draft, end of the stack sounded like a jet engine. Kind of seemed like the flames didn't have enough time to stay on the bottom of the pan before exiting (?) Wood was not super dry either but the thing fired great. In the two hours, it never did get the pan to a hard rolling boil, just bubbles on the back end. Is there anything I can do it this point to help like a damper in the stovepipe? I think shorter wood might help also instead of the 2' stuff, in terms of getting the flame under the pan. My pan might be part of the problem as well, its an awesome quality stainless but quite a bit heavier than the steam table ones. Any thoughts is greatly appreciated before I move on to another plan. Thanks gentlemen.

[royalmaple]

The thicker pan isn't going to help the situation at all.

You have a limited area to work with in the firebox. If you can get the heat closer to the pan it will be better. I'd try a cheaper pan first and see if that helps.

[sap seeker]

Thanks Royalmaple - unfortunately I found this site after I purchased the pan off of ebay. It's unbelievable quality, in hindsight should have gone with the lighter steam table pans. Thought I was doing the right thing at the time, lesson learned.

[sap seeker]

The thicker pan isn't going to help the situation at all.

You have a limited area to work with in the firebox. If you can get the heat closer to the pan it will be better. I'd try a cheaper pan first and see if that helps.


Been thinking about this a little more and am going to try your suggestion Royalmaple of bringing the fire up closer to the pan. Hate to spend more money on different pans so figure worth a shot. I also have about 2" more that I can cut away before getting into the flue collar. Guess if this doesn't work I'll just go with the blocks or rob the parts out of the Ashley and put them on a barrell. Hope it works better this time, the thing really ripped and loved the whole "self contained" off the ground idea.

[sap seeker]

Been thinking about this a little more and am going to try your suggestion Royalmaple of bringing the fire up closer to the pan. Hate to spend more money on different pans so figure worth a shot. I also have about 2" more that I can cut away before getting into the flue collar. Guess if this doesn't work I'll just go with the blocks or rob the parts out of the Ashley and put them on a barrell. Hope it works better this time, the thing really ripped and loved the whole "self contained" off the ground idea.


Well guess I'm going to have to invest a little more money in this endeavor after all. Tried again Sat., brought the fire up higher in the box. Got the stack temp. to 750-800 degrees and still couldn't make this **** pan boil! Found some steam table pans for $19. online so guess I'll buy a couple of those and try. Anybody need an awesome s.s. 4" roasting pan, give me a yell.... nice Christmas present for that wife you love so much!:smile:

[TapME]

any way you could post some pics of your rig? We all might be able to help, I'm just having a had time seeing what you have done,
My barrel evaporator that we had would boil like crazy with a welded steel pan all of a 1/16'' thick and crap wood.

[peacemaker]

no money for bascoms used or anything

[sap seeker]

any way you could post some pics of your rig? We all might be able to help, I'm just having a had time seeing what you have done,
My barrel evaporator that we had would boil like crazy with a welded steel pan all of a 1/16'' thick and crap wood.

I think calling it a rig is a real stretch for sure. In addition to the pan being too thick (it weighs 15#) it almost seems like the flame exits to quickly out the back. I can definitely see the advantage of the barrell where the flame would have to pass over the bottom of the entire pan. Probably could throw this same pan on some cinder blocks but was really hoping this would work. Even without a rolling boil, it's done 2 plus gph, mostly from steam. A Steam pan would fit down inside nicely but only would give me the potential of 2.4 gph if what I've read is right (12X20" = 240 c.i.) The pan I have should do 4.3 gph using the same logic which was a little more to my liking when I bought this pan. I could gut the stove and add the components to a barrell as well.

P.S. Peacmaker - yes indeed that Bascom's site has everything a guy could need, thank you. Still trying to decide how $ deep I want to get for 12-15 taps.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r106/gamefisher_photos/dcp_20862.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r106/gamefisher_photos/dcp_20872.jpg
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r106/gamefisher_photos/dcp_20882.jpg

I

[peacemaker]

ok we must have missed that you have the chimney on the side take that hole and plug it and put a wide exit in the back that will change alot ....and add some good angle iron grates and brick the top as well she will sream with that pan u have i bet

[sap seeker]

ok we must have missed that you have the chimney on the side take that hole and plug it and put a wide exit in the back that will change alot ....and add some good angle iron grates and brick the top as well she will sream with that pan u have i bet


10-4 Peacmaker - what if I just remounted everything at the back? And when you say plug the old hole, would a 6" flue cover work if it was bricked over or would it just get too hot? Thanks.

[peacemaker]

i would say yeah that would be fine u probally wouldnt need the cover just brick but i would ...try to find a rectangal exhaust as wide as your pan ...

[sap seeker]

i would say yeah that would be fine u probally wouldnt need the cover just brick but i would ...try to find a rectangal exhaust as wide as your pan ...

Gotcha. Thank you for the help.

[RileySugarbush]

It shouldn't take much to plug it up. It'll be fine with a split firebrick in front. I agree if you get some good grates and introduce the air below them, move the stack to the back side and widen it. . Even if you just squish it to oval the extra width will help keep the heat spread across the width of the pan at the back.

Put a little blower on it and this thing should get to 5gph.

[peacemaker]

no worries been there once before ... and all these fellas here helped me get my rig screaming ...

[peacemaker]

u have some one that can weld for u ...

[sap seeker]

u have some one that can weld for u ...

Not readily available, I'll come up with something and let you guys know how it turns out. Are those rectangular flues something that would be at any old hardware store? Don't ever recall seeing one but then again, never needed one before now:)

[RileySugarbush]

If you don't mind replacing it every couple years and you can support the stack, you can use duct work transition from Home Depot. Rectangular floor registers to round duct.

[peacemaker]

and if u contact a stove dealer sometimes they have them or maybe a sheet metal place can make you one

[TapME]

Sap seeker, I didn't even have a chance to help. peace and Riley got you going in the right direction. Do it up and let's see what it will do. Bet it is jumping out of the pan.

[sap seeker]

You guys have all been great, can't wait to find the time to make the changes. Will take pics.

[peacemaker]

sap seeker go to my photo bucket and you can see the grates i made there angle iron sitting on the point and a friend welded them for me ... i filled them with sand and they held up well

[sap seeker]

I can't see the grates in your photobucket account but I've read about and seen pics of others on here. The grate only has to be about 12" X 24". Haven't I read its better to go left to right than length wise with the angle iron as well? I'm sure I can get somebody to weld that up.

[peacemaker]

well i went length wise and my thoughts where with the draft coming in wide it would be the best air flow but maybe left and right would give you some turbulance
no metal shops around or a buddy farmer most farmers can weld a bit if not great ...

[TapME]

if that is an old Ashley wood stove you may be able to buy the grates at a hardware store. I did that for my mother-in-laws and that is a 70's king heater same as yours.

[RileySugarbush]

Here is a quick thing to try. It forces the combustion products to the back of the box. I would stack some brick under it to keep them flowing up high instead of under and into the elbow.

What do you all think?

[peacemaker]

well i had the same idea ish but was worried about how long that pipe would last in there i was thinking some how with fire brick what if you incased that stack in brick it would heat the brick as well and then you could bring it back to about 2 inchs from the back wall ...and then drop down to your normal stack you follow that

[TapME]

That may stand up. it would keep the gases in the stove longer which means more heat. could even put a damper in the stack to keep more heat. That's an old downdraft like the old parlor stoves with the muffler in the back.

[peacemaker]

its like a sears heataltor i think i was called had a tin housing around it ...

[peacemaker]

hey how do i ad a pic to the text like u did

[RileySugarbush]

Peacemaker,

I downloaded a copy of sap seeker's photo, opened in a graphics program, added the text over the top and saved a copy.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

computor guru

RICH

[peacemaker]

this is a drawing of what i mean if u follow its a side view

[Sugarmaker]

You guys are getting pretty creative with your drawings!
Nice work! saved 1000 words x 2 on the trader too.:)
Chris

[peacemaker]

thats right like out mr wizard

[sap seeker]

Well not only are you guys better sappers than me, you are all much better with the computer as well! Fancy stuff Riley Sugarbush, that would be such an easy fix if successful. I'm sure it's worth an elbow to see.

Yes, its an old Ashley woodstove de-tinned. It actually has grates and an ash box below, I only added the bbq grills in my second boil attempt (thinking the issue at the time was distance from fire to pan) We'll give her a shot and see what happen!

[TapME]

ben thinking, just make sure you have enough room for the wood. If I remember the fire box on those stoves is big but not that big.

[RileySugarbush]

Peace: I like your idea. May need a long stack to pull the draft down, but it sure would be efficient for heat transfer.

Chris: We may have saved a few words, but others are using them up even faster!

Sap: Please report your test results! Are you using a blower?

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

i like PEACEMAKERS drawing also

RICH

[peacemaker]

thats what i was thinking maybe bolt in some angle to support the brick .. we make masonary stoves for heat and the trick is to make that flame go a long way ..

[peacemaker]

wood wise if u go with the third rule still should work it doesnt have to be long wood as long as its ripping

[TapME]

I think that stove take a 24'' stick I wouldn't want to feed 8 & 10'' pieces for a days boil in the stove. Just my 2 cents

[peacemaker]

well heres another option push the back wall to the stack whole and your horizontal about 6 inchs from the front then the flames would be a s in a sense i would put one rw of bricks the one missing then brick back to leave a one brick hole at the back for your flue whole

[peacemaker]

i gues my thinking is whats differnce in log size .. is the efficiency of the fire that matters ...

[TapME]

just cover the side hole with sheet metal and take an elbow and snips and cut a whole in the end with a jig saw snip the elbow to make 1'' flaps 1'' deep bend them in the new cut whole on the end and apply self drilling sheet metal screws and you are done with the exhaust being on the end. apply 2000 degree clauk if you want.

[peacemaker]

that works as well

[sap seeker]

You McGyver's can't stop now can you:) So, do you all agree that I should try Riley's option 1st as that would be the simpliest fix if the stove pipe would hold up. If you think about it, it is the equivalent of remounting everything to the back minus a couple of inches. Even if the stovpipe doesn't hold up from the heat, its a quick change out season to season. As far as wood size, I think there will still be enough room without a lot of alteration. I'll buy some firebrick and brick to the top and bolt in some angle iron to hold them in place.

On the subject of a fan, you can see the actual draft in the bottom right hand of this photo. It is a square box about the size of a gutter spout. Could I inject some air right there? It is below the grates although it wouldn't be a "direct hit" to the flames. Thanks again guys, learning a lot from all the brainstorming.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r106/gamefisher_photos/dcp_20862.jpg

[TapME]

you have a plan about the air and it sounds good to me. It will work like the new pellet stove and burn hot.

[RileySugarbush]

That is exactly the right way to introduce forced air, up through the grates. Try a leaf blower in there, you can adapt it with more cheap ducting so you don't melt any plastic. When you compare natural draft to forced, you won't go back!

[lpakiz]

I had a thought for anyone looking for a small blower. How about one from the blow-up Christmas decorations you see on everyone's lawn?

[Haynes Forest Products]

They wont work and why do I say that because I have a 1/2 inflated polar bear in my front yard. It might be that Im at 6500 ft. What I would do is take a trip to the scrap yard and look for the induction blower of a gas heater or water heater. They put out a steady stream of air and can handle the heat. I LOVE SCRAP YARDS.

[sapsick]

you could also get a blower from an olf forced air furnance including one fron an old camper. i think the leafblower would be quite noisy to listen to also.

[RickinFarmington]

Just came up from my shack where I tested the leaf blower system. WOW, works so much better than my small blower. However, the thing makes too much noise and I will be remoting to the outside and ducting the air in.

My biggest wake up to increasing the boil rate was when I started burning all the scrap from our new house project. Day and night difference over the dried and split hardwood. It is all about the wood.

Rick in Farmington

[RileySugarbush]

Haynes has it right. No surprise there! An induction blower would be just right. I think a circulation blower would be way too big and would blow ashes everywhere.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Pick up a squirrel cage blower or something like that on ebay. There are usually quite a few dayton blowers on there.

I would think you would burn up a leaf blower pretty fast. They are not designed to blow for hours on end at a time.

[mfchef54]

i got leaf blower for $29.00 At Lowes. you need to put it on a dimmer switch to control the flow. I used mine for 10 hour clips and it still blew leaves this fall. they do make noise but boy did it boost the gph.

[Cardigan99]

Haynes, 6500 ft in Wisconsin??

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I think he spends all him time other than sugarin season in Colorado.

[Haynes Forest Products]

The funny thing about living in Colo is when Garth from Maple Pro called and wanted to know why the hell I needed a evaporator sent to Denver. I can only imagine his thougts about opening new markets west of the Mississippi. Now the bad thing about 6500 ft is trying to test things that boil water or create vacuum at this altitude.

[Cardigan99]

ahhhhh. That expains it!

[sap seeker]

Well it was worth a $6 elbow boys, but still didn't boil the pan. Just completed the test drive, lots of bubbles, lots of steam, but still no rolling boil. The principle of the idea seemed like it would work, even used 3 yr. old oak from my house supply to give it a fair shake. Maybe the firebox is just to small? Think I'll gut what parts I can and put them on a barrel and try that. Has anybody ever tried an upright wood barrel evap. instead of end to end? No legs to deal with, put a little sand in the bottom, round grates a 1/3 of the way up, and a removable top with a hole cut for the pan??? Guess it would be hard to fire brick that way. Probably go conventional. Thanks for all the help with the Ashley idea.

[peacemaker]

sap seeker what did u do for grates and before you ditch it did u try what i was saying with the brick and the satck where it is ...

[sap seeker]

10-4 Peacemaker - I took the bbq grates back out and used the existing stoves grates. I'll try to duplicate your drawing. thanks.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

SAPSEEKER
is your wood split small enough??

RICH

[sap seeker]

SAPSEEKER
is your wood split small enough??

RICH

Yep, wrist size like I've read on here, 3 yr. old oak too boot.:confused:

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

DID you brick it up like peace suggested


RICH

[peacemaker]

u need to redirect them flames up tight to the pans in the back make the spce like inch between them to maybe 2 in

[peacemaker]

ok and try this mix in some pine or poplar ... some 2x4 fur or sruce split in half ... build a crib style fire ...like build the bottom out of hardwood and then feed the top with soft wood ever 6 minutes if the woods not almost gone to gone in 6 min either wait a little longer or maybe u are putting to much in and feed it as fast as u can dont leave the door open long ... without the brick u may be losing alot of heat out the sides ... remeber this in a com arch the fire box is 1/3 the lenth the arch so smaller wood is not the problem you need to compress them flames to the pans . one other ??? how much water are u keeping in the pan ?

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

Thats what im thinking also

RICH

[peacemaker]

i find the oak gives u sustained heat the soft wood makes it rip ..here is one thing i have learned its not like the fire u build in yur wood stove where u want that wood to last u want it to burn up as fast as it can to produce the most intense heat as possible ..

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

Yes if you want a break from fueling put in oak otherwise shove the ash and red maple to it

RICH

[peacemaker]

i know when i started out i was over loading the wood and not leaving enough air space and such and watching the back part not boil then i played and played and tweeked and soon it was a screaming sounded like a get taking off ...

[sap seeker]

You guys just don't want me to give up on this thing do you?:) It is frustrating because I just think this thing should work. I did have beech, ash, and maple mixed in as well, all split very small. I had some red brick that I boxed up under the newly inserted 6" elbow and fire bricked the sides to the top. 1" of water in my pan. The stack definitely sounds like a jet engine as well. Don't know boyz, maybe the 8" pipe is drawing the flame out too quickly and not leaving it under the pan? A damper perhaps?

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I would recommend trying a damper. 8" stack seems like way to much stack in my opinion and if it sounds like that, it is likely pulling most of your heat up the stack before it gets a chance to get to the bottom of your pan. Might try putting a firebrick wall just in front of the stack exit and leaving aprox a 1.5 to 2" gap between the top of the wall and the bottom of the pan to force the heat up. In this case, you would need an 8" stack to be able to overcome the wall, but I think it would work good.

Sounds like you have plenty of heat and fire if it sounds like that, just not getting it forced into the bottom of the pan.

[RileySugarbush]

I agree with Brandon. Try to restrict your stack. And make sure your combustion air is flowing up through the grate.

[sap seeker]

Will do guys - Riley, I assume then I should remove the eblow for this next experiment? I only have the 8" because it was free from the dump, it roars, I think to much. Just watching it, doesn't seem like the flam stays in the box long enough if that makes any sense. I'll put a damper in it and try it.

[peacemaker]

he still needs to brick it up flat remeber his pipe is on the side of the arch

[peacemaker]

yes thke the elbow out ...

[peacemaker]

and i agree damper it and brick it up like i drew and try it ... i has to boil that way ...

[sap seeker]

and i agree damper it and brick it up like i drew and try it ... i has to boil that way ...

Let's hope:) Only downside will be my wood will have to be about a foot long but hey, if it works. I've already burnt half my winter's supply trying to make this thing go anyway......:rolleyes:

[peacemaker]

go get some pallets as well they burn great and hot

[RileySugarbush]

Peacemakers idea is good. The only advantage the elbow had over it was it was cheaper and easier to try. The basics are all there, you just need to nudge them around to get the following:

Firebox with an air intake under the grates

A well drawing stack or force air to provide lot's of combustion oxygen

A barrier or wall to force the products of combustion up and close to the pan for as long a distance as possible.


I think a lot of the trouble is that the rig is small and it's hard to get a lot of area with concentrated heat transfer from the fire because the firebox is most of the length. You are close, keep at it!

[sap seeker]

Do you guys think I would be better buying a couple lengths of 6" stovepipe instead (Now that I already have the elbow) or a damper for the existing 8" or both would be about the same. Thanks.

No quitting here Riley, not in my vocab.:)

[lpakiz]

If you want to try a temporarty fix to dampering the pipe, just lay a piece of tin over part of the top of the stack. Slide it around, covering or uncovering different amouints of the stack til you have the draw you want. If this helps, invest in the damper.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Buy a 8" to 6" reducer and make the last section or two of pipe on top 6". You may want the 8" stack however if you build a wall to force the heat up into the pans, this is your biggest problem now, bigger than too much draft.

[sap seeker]

Just got done with another trial run, best yet, although still not satisfied. Evaporated about 10qts. of water in a little over an hour. Blocked up in back with some red brick that was lying around just to test. Took the elbow off the stovepipe and made a "damper" just like lpakiz suggested, worked fine. Took the ash pan out to allow for more air under the grates but used no forced air. Two observations: 1) using 12" wood is a pain 2) it would work a whole lot better as a rear exit.

I think at this point I'm going to move onto a barrell, transfering some parts from the Ashley. Much of what I have learned from you guys on this first attempt will serve me well on the next endeavor. I'm sure I'll have more questions for all the experts on the next go round as well. Thanks everyone.

Riley - this is not giving up, just moving on to bigger and better!:)

[Mac_Muz]

sap seeker, I am going to start a new post devoted to you. First of all I am to late in this post to show you more than this picture. If youuu make something like what you see you rig will work.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll275/Mac_Muz/Maple_Sugarin/Stove_grate_placed.jpg

The one part I am talking about is the flame deflector at the back. All it is, is a 1/2 circle of the same waste metal from the smoke stack hole. All it has added is a wall, to make it like a 1/2 bucket.

That will cure your Ashly..

On the other hand I personally would forget that Ashley and the little pan. It will make you work way to much in my opinion.

So off to your next thread.