homemede evap

[dale00]

hello,
im new to this site and am trying to get into making syurp.im looking for plans on how to build a evaperator out of a 55 gal drum,along with a pan to go on it.i have done a search but cant find the plans,maybe im looking wrong.thanks for your help

[KenWP]

Basically you might have to do like I did. You go through all the threads in the homemade equipment forum and read the ones that mention evaporators and look at the pictures. I am on dial up and sometimes it takes a while to get them loaded but if you look at enough of them you will get an idea as to how to build one. There is a few line drawings in some of the posts also.
If your like me you will change plans a couple of times as you find new info as you read.

[BarrelBoiler]

hey welcome to the trader glad to have you aboard

like ken said check thruogh previous threads to find ideas. member Stoweski found a halfpint barrel set recently and had a good picture of it and there are other designs kicking around

what kind of pans are you looking at using?

if you search for my posts using my user name i have descibed the barrel set we have used in the past it was just like Stoweski's except with two baffles instead of three.

check it out and keep asking questions you will end up with all sorts of info

most of all enjoy

[Dennis H.]

Welcome to the Maple Trader Dale00.

This is the best place to find info and to ask any questions that you might have.

Now about your question, There isn't many plans posted here, there are a few but not many. Most of the hobby evap's that we make are mostly plan as you go.
When I made my barrel evap I had an idea what I wanted to end up with and just built it I have a Post here on the trader that has all the pics of my adventure of building it, I will have to find the post and add the link here for you.

I do have one thing to add, this is from my own experience. Why not build an evap like the 1/2 pint. If I had a chance to build it all over again I would build it something like the 1/2 pint. It was sort of a pain to work with curves of the barrel. I also think I could have done it quicker and cheaper if I would had made it like a box like the 1/2 pint.

Well anyway feel free to ask as many questions as you like and again welcome to the trader.

Here is the link to the post f my Barrel Evap build.
http://www.mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=3402

[dale00]

im not sure what type of pans im going to use i thought about some steam pans?

[RickinFarmington]

I copied the design of Dennis' barrel evaporator and I do have one suggestion
regarding the pans. When I cut down my barrel, I did not pay much attention to the length and width I would end up with. I started with a double SS sink and after a lot of work ended up with two very nice pans. I made a custom plate to fit my barrel opening, into which the pans set slightly down inside. All this worked quite nicely, but, and here is the point of my posting.
After one season of the SS pans, I am ready to move up to a pan like the Leader half pint or Bill Mason pan. The immediate problem is my barrel arch opening is only 21 x 34 inches, which is not standard for any standard pan. So my lessson learned is to make your barrel arch opening 24 x 32 or 36 so that you can at least search for a new or used commercial pan.

One last thing. While the two pan batch system worked well for me, the emptying of the syrup pan can be a bit exciting when you have the door open to settle the fire down, and the open flame after removing the pan. Burned several sweat shirts in the process.

I was able to borrow a leader half pint pan for my last couple of boils. Even though it was too wide, it gave me the experience of continuous boiling and a whole lot easier. Sorry for the wordy reply, but advice is free.

Have fun, I know I sure am.

Rick

[BarrelBoiler]

hope this works

several members have mentioned that they are thinking of building a barrelstove evaporator. here (i hope)are pics of the one we have used for many years addmittedly with anew barrel fashioned after the orginal. the first one shows the set up and being a side shot can be used to scale things somewhat. the main pan is 24"x33"with an 8"x8"x24 preheater. the legs are flat bar

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss287/4genlogger/sap%20pics/calf0152.jpg

the next two show the inside. we put chrushed rock in the bottom tohelp protect from the heat.you could add grates and use the fillhold for forced air
six inch stovepipe firebrick back walland arch area, sheet metal door with a filpup draft door on the bottom

http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss287/4genlogger/sap%20pics/calf013.jpg
http://i584.photobucket.com/albums/ss287/4genlogger/sap%20pics/calf014.jpg
the worst part of the rebuild was getting the fold in the side of the barrel, it needs to be there for firebox and flue space. build the pan support seperate then you can weld it in level. one could use a 24x36 inch pan by using 2inch angle (bed rails)for the front and back pan support so it could be welded to the rim of the barrel (36-33=3didvided by 2=1.5 inches overhang on each end. it worked well for us, with this setup we got about 8gph. we usually just let the fire die down toward teh end and finished off inside. 2 people make for easier lifting and transfering of the good stuff.

hope this helps
sorry its long but a pic is worth a thousand words
3pictures......;)

[dale00]

thank you guys for the help and thanks for the pics.i was wondering about the ss sinks how do you plug them so you can boil and if you only have one pan how do you finsh the syurp?thanks again for the help,dale

[KenWP]

I had my SS sink tig welded. It cost me $54 to have it done. It could also be silver soldered or mig welded. At least its done and should last untill I get something more exciting. I am thinking of expanding my horizens a bit.

[BarrelBoiler]

we use a LARGE sauce pan on the stove in the kitchen. my son used a lobster cooker ie. stand alone porpane burner and a tall stock pot outside

as far as the construction of the stove goes that was the pattern we had at the time. somewhere on the trader there is a pic of a barrel stove that the buuilder squared off the the upper half of the barrel with sheet metal and angle iron using the rims for support. looked much simpler to do than the way we did he could weld better too

search "sinks " or "stainless steel sinks" that should lead you to that discussions on that idea or check back through the homemade equipment posts there was a thread early in the year

good luck

[KenWP]

I tried to boil at least 45 gallons of sap and usually 60 or 80 gallons which gave me around 2 inches of concentrated liquid on the bottom. I heated it to 103 degrees C and then shut down the fire and pulled the SS sink off the fire and poured it thru a filter and then finished it in the house. Some batchs I never had to boil it futher as it tested syrup when it boiled in the house some I had to boil a bit and one or two I had to add liquid to bring it back down to syrup. I then filtered it through the orlon filter and then bottled it.
I made a bottler also and it made it a lot faster and neater to pour the syrup into bottles instead of a ladle and funnel.

[3rdgen.maple]

Ken you gotta talk gallons and ferenheit not liters and celcius. I looked at the 103 and thought you were absolutely nuts, then I seen the C. lol

[KenWP]

The only accurate thermometer I have is the one I used when I ran the P&H elevator and they have to be in celcius to be legal up here. To cheap to buy a new one. I do work in gallons but remember my gallons are a lot bigger then your gallons. A gallon of our syrup weighs over 13 pounds. and water weighs 10 pounds here.
I would also have to say that if I had not of read the post's here I would have not insulated my evaporator before useing it and the heat loss would have been pretty bad. I could almost touch the sides with it insulated. I would have also not have figured out a preheater of anykind and would still be boiling if I hadn't of used one.

[BeeRay Farms]

Barrel boiler,

How did you accomplish the bending out of the drum?

[Bernie/MA]

I have several cast iron radiators different sizes for grates if you're interested.