make evaporator out of truck tool box?

[Brian Ledoux]

Hello,
I am wondering what folks on here would think about using a metal truck tool box to make a home made evaporator out of? You can see a picture of what I had in mind in below links. I am told dimensions of 1st one are: 61" long by 20.5" wide. looks about 20" high. The sheet metal is a pretty heavy guage, owner says about 1/8 inch thick. Anyone think it would OR would not work? Anyone ever tried it?

http://nh.craigslist.org/tls/1293109884.html
http://nh.craigslist.org/pts/1305011214.html

[3rdgen.maple]

I think I have officially heard it all now. :) If that thing is not 304 stainlees or tin or copper Run man Run.

[C.Wilcox]

ha,ha,ha.....now that's thinking outside the "box"....or is it "inside"? Either way, I love the creativity. There are a rare few on the forum that use standard mild steel evaporator pans. They don't talk about it much for fear of reprisal from the majority, but they seem to have no problems with them at all. Of course, their pans haven't been sprayed with enamel/epoxy paint and used to store all sorts of horrible things from chemicals to old socks. Given the unknown history of that truck tool box I would have to agree with 3rdgen that you should probably pass.

On this same topic though....my father in law came home the other day with an outdoor fire pan that caught my eye. It was the kind that looks like a large saucer that sets on a small stand. People put fire proof mats under them and use them on their decks/patios. What really caught my eye was that it was made of solid copper. It was about 2.5 to 3 feet in diameter and about 8" deep at the deepest point. I think he said it cost him $100 at one of the BORGS. I haven't tried it, but I'll bet you could really boil some sap in one of those if you built a small stand of concrete blocks for it.

[Brian Ledoux]

Seems like I may have went down the right road with this idea... I think maybe my intentions might be misunderstood though, based on the two responses I got. My thought was to use the truck box as the frame of the evaporator... in place of say one of the 275 gallon oil tanks like some use to make their evaporators. I would mount an evaporator pan on top of the tool box and burn the wood inside the tool box. Will that idea not work?

[3rdgen.maple]

Well darn, I thought you wanted to boil out of the tool box. Hey give it a shot ad post some pictures. I originally thought you lost your mind but guess not:lol:

[Brian Ledoux]

I guess my main question that I'd want feedback on is: would the box be deep enough at only 24 inches deep?

[3rdgen.maple]

I think it would all depend on the design. If you can raise it up say 6 inches and have the ashes drop out the bottom yeah it probably would be. Maybe put it up on a row of block cut the bottom out under the firebox and throw a row of makeshift grates in her. What are your thoughts for a firing door. I think you are gonna want some isulation and firebrick in it as well to keep it from burning out and holding the heat in. Even splitbrick is something. It would probably work out well for you. How many taps are you thinking of running on it?

[vermaple]

Brian,

I was much to tired last night to express my thoughts on this subject. I'm glad I waited as things have explains themselves. The 20" deep should be plenty for a firebox. Set up some grates on the bottom, and then build up under the back end to hold the heat up to the pan.

[Brian Ledoux]

Starting to sound more promising.

In answer to 3rdgen's question, I am looking to have somewhere around 100 trees... Assuming I get a good evaporator which I am madly driven to do, so I am sure it will happen.

I don't see why I couldn't modify the toolbox by putting a grate under the fire box, lining with firebrick/insulation and then building up the back. I have never seen a real evaporator up close, so I will have to do that. The only info I know about evaporators, I have learned from this amazing website. Time to go check some out. I am hoping to take a trip to Bascom Maple to see what they have, get some ideas. Maybe buy one if prices are decent.

[SPILEDRIVER]

i certainly can see that box being built into a arch.have to admit i was a bit baffled trying to figure out how you could use a tool box for a evap.all i could think about was how in the world you could use a tool chest for that.then i checked out the pictures,thats what we/i call a job box around here(lol)
you deffiently are gonna want to insulate and or fire brick it tho.my 2 cents!

[C.Wilcox]

Brian,

Given your further explanation I say go for it. I would agree with you and others that you should line it with something to keep the heat in. Also, I would put the grates under the box, not in it so you don't decrease the height of your firebox. I built a very crude concrete block arch this past spring and the distance from my firewood to the bottom of the pan was too small and as a result I got some serious soot build up on the bottom of my pan and it made it hard to keep everything boiling.

I still like the idea of boiling sap in the truck box though. Reminds me of something my father would do.

[KenWP]

They make SS caskets also. Hmmmm we can start a new trend. Maple for the Goth crowd.
I am the same way look for something already built a person can change around a bit for his own use. If I could find a nice square box like gizmo would make my life a lot simpler.

[3rdgen.maple]

I took a bag of garbage out to the dumpster and got a good chuckle when I thought hey one could cut that down a little and throw some pans on that.:lol: Guys we are obsessed with this aren't we. Any one wanna buy a residential dumpster????? Ken Im liking the casket thing. I seen a motorcycle that turned one into a tow cart.

[3rdgen.maple]

Brian just seen on Bascom's website they have a used 2x6 arch only for 400 bucks. Might save you some headaches.

[Clan Delaney]

On this same topic though....my father in law came home the other day with an outdoor fire pan that caught my eye. It was the kind that looks like a large saucer that sets on a small stand. People put fire proof mats under them and use them on their decks/patios. What really caught my eye was that it was made of solid copper. It was about 2.5 to 3 feet in diameter and about 8" deep at the deepest point. I think he said it cost him $100 at one of the BORGS. I haven't tried it, but I'll bet you could really boil some sap in one of those if you built a small stand of concrete blocks for it.

Hmmmmmm..... Patrick like. That could possibly be the mother of all batch boilers! Off to search Craigslist!

[KenWP]

I helped a freind empty a garage this weekend and found some usefull stuff I have to figure out how to use. He had a bunch of SS sinks that I just had to load up and he also had a length of 6 inch SS pipe that just might work also. Now if I found a steel box that was like 17 inchs wide I could come up with a pretty far evaporator. I want the sinks to sit just on the top of the box and not down into it as then you get that scald line in the sink.
The SS pipe would work to make a preheater as I would cut a hole into the bottom of a big SS pot and then weld the pipe into the middle and then add it into the stack and it should give me some good heat transfer. I know dumb idea Ken but a guy has to invent some dumb things in his life.

[PerryW]

I think it would work fine, but, with a only 20" x 5 foot flat pan, 100 trees may be too much sap to boil.

I'm guessing a flat pan that size would probably only evaporate 10 gallons of sap per hour and 100 trees will give you 100-150 gallons of sap, so 10-15 hours of boiling.

I would look around for used pans first, then build an arch to fit them.. Concrete blocks are cheap and fast.