check my math

[SilverLeaf]

Before I reach the "point of no return" on the construction of my new evaporator, I want to make sure that I've got my needs figured appropriately. (Don't want to have to go back in a few years and build an entirely new one...!) I know how much sap I get now, and I know how much time I have available for boiling. I also know the max point I'd like to expand a ways into the future. Based upon lots of posts on this site, I think I've figured out what evaporation rate I can expect now, and then with various modifications I can make to the evaporator in the future, as I expand my number of taps. Take a look and see if I've figured this right:


2x4 evaporator with a flat pan, and good insulation thru the arch: 8-10 gph


add a sap preheater: add 1-2 gph


replace the flat pan with a 2x2 flue pan & 2x2 pan w/ dividers: add another 4- 6 gph


add a blower to the evap: add 3-5 gph


So, if I've figured that right, with the eventual addition of those mods, I can expect to roughly double the output of my basic 2x4 evap that I'm on the cusp of building, to get something in the 16-23gph range. Is that about right?

[Jeff E]

It will be interesting to see what others say.
I ran a 2x4 flat and if I tended the fire well, I could get 8-10 gph, with preheated sap, about 10-12.

My opinion is adding a blower, 2x2 flue pan to get to 16 to 20 gph is not the best approach. You will spend a lot of time and or $$ getting there. Why not just get a 2x6 conventional set up now? If you have 100 taps you will have enough sap to make it work, and your expansion in taps can happen without expensive retrofitting of the small set up.

My experience was running 60 taps on the 2x4 all day would get me 2 or 3 gallons of syrup. I considered a custom SS pan for the 2x4, and it would cost the same as or more than a used 2x8 complete arch and pans.
I jumped to the 2x8, added 120 taps, and with the same time committment made 7-10 gallons of syrup. I am a fan of building around conventional arches, as they are very simple and not much can go wrong with them. I can always change my mind and add a preheater or blower later on, if time/$$ is available.

Then I got goofy and added another 100 taps and ran both the 2x4 and the 2x8. Then I lost my mind and added 1500 taps....but still running a conventional 3x12 king drop flue. My effeciency comes from the RO.

[Cardigan99]

Silver, you should get upwards of 20 with the flue pan and blower. I sold a 275 gal barrel evap with a 27x54 divided flat pan, to a guy on the site here (hope all is well Mike). The guy who bought it put a small blower on and he said he was getting 18 to 20. Best I did was 15 without the blower.

Todd

[PerryW]

Your numbers sound right to me but I also agree w/ JeffE about the 2x6.

The 2x6 has twice as big of a flue pan as a 2x4 so the evaporation rate is nearly doubled with only a 2 foot increase in length. You can get 30 GPH out of a 2x6 without a blower.

[3rdgen.maple]

Jeff the numbers sound realalistic but never played around with a 2x4. A good 2x6 with a 4 foot flue pan will give you 30 on a bad day without add ons. I can get a good 35 to 40 consistently with mine. I would make syrup with the 2x4 without the upgrades, sell your syrup and save the money. Do that a couple season and take that 2x4 and the maple savings and get the 2x6 or maybe by that time you are gonna want a 3x8. I got the 2x6 and love it but after 1 year I want bigger.

[SilverLeaf]

Thanks, guys, for the feedback! Glad to hear my numbers are more or less right. As I look to the future, my major constraint, actually, is the fact that I don't live in or even near the woods like you all do. I'm way out in Little House on the Prairie country, and as such, I've got a very limited supply of trees to use. (If it weren't for that, I'd probably be just like Jeff - "Then I lost my mind and added 1500 taps" :lol: ) I figure, in another 15 years or so, though, I'll have 25+ more mature trees, and maybe by then I'll have sweet-talked my neighbors into letting me tap theirs too. But even then that will probably only get me to around 200 taps or so. Now, if I could only tap cornstalks, then I'd really be in business....

So I'd been kinda feeling like a 2x6 would be overkill, at least if I could comfortably use a 2x4 now, and retrofit it later to do more. But it's good to hear some feedback that maybe I should at least consider the 2x6. If there's one truth about evaporators that I think I've picked up on, it's that no one ever regrets getting the bigger size...!

[3rdgen.maple]

Silverleaf what do you think your tap count is gonna be? It sounds like you got it pretty well figured out with the 2x4. After reading your last post I say go for the plan you have. Worst case after the flue pan upgrade if ya need more sell it and get the 2x6. I bet it would take maybe a day to find a home for the 2x4.

[Gary R]

Silverleaf,

I agree with all these guys. I would look at how much time you have to boil and can you make your upgrades for next to nothing. If you have to buy a blower, air manifold and custom made flue pan, then 2X6 is the way to go. I have done alot of upgrades to mine in the last two years. It's boiling pretty good now but, I'm afraid to add up the cost of going to the hardware store every day:o

You can always make corn syrup;)

[SilverLeaf]

I wanted to thank all for your feedback here. I've been thinking about it more and more, and am going to go with the 2x6. The time savings alone, even with my current number of taps, is worth it, given that I still have my "day" job to do.

And I've thought better about the idea of building it myself. I've got my dimensions ready to go - but will have someone who actually knows what they're doing do the welding. I think this job is going to take a bit more expertise than my one semester of metal shop in high school... :lol: