Gas (natural or propane) fired rig?

[HudsonHawk]

I know the majority or evaporators are wood fired, but have heard of and seen oil fired ones too. Has anyone ever made a gas fired evaporator? Or are the physics of it not good enough to get the heat you need?

[sugar man]

lapierre makes a lp fired unit 20gph evaporation rate. check them out

[mapleack]

Hudson, I've seen a handfull of rigs run on both on my travels over the years. Natural gas and propane work great, but just aren't very common for a couple of reasons. While natural gas and propane work fine, they are often more expensive per btu than fuel oil, because of pipeline delivery charges, etc. Secondly, natural gas isn't readliy availible in alot of the rural Northeast areas where syrup gets made. I'm planning on either converting my 3x10 from wood to natural gas before next year, or buying an oil fired arch and converting that as it would be more efficient. The only reason I'm planning the switch is the fact that I'm lucky enough to now have enough free gas on the farm to run an evaporator with no worries. I can't pass up the opportunity, even if it does cost a couple grand to make the switch.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

DougM(username)has a 30x8 D&G propane fired one. Send him a PM and he can give you more info.

[HudsonHawk]

We have a VERY small operation right now, and we're burning some hardwood we cut in our own yards, and a whole lot of hardwood pallets I can get at work. That's enough for now....however we don't have access to anything like even a single cord of wood. And to buy it at $300+ just won't work for us. So, I'm thinking of looking into the one you mentioned, sugarman. Again..thanks.....

[WebbyMaple]

This year, we had a propane "arch" made from the plumber we use. We tapped into the gas feed of our barn and are running it off of our porch. We have boiled twice on it and it works great (made 2gal+). It had about 10-15gph. There are three large burners suspended on a steel frame that has wheels:). PM me and ill send you pics, you could probably find someone to make on near you.

[UNDRBLLY]

I bought the LaPierre propane 48 x 16 last year and if anybody can get 20 gallons an hour out it I'll pay you handsomely to show me how you do it !! Tops for me is around 10-11 an hour. Slick little rig though and very well made!