did my first boil and don't think I'm getting hot enough?

[rustyinmaine]

I finally did my first boil today and only did 10 gallons of sap to start with. didn't want to loss everything if I did it wrong. It still took a very long time. Almost 3 hours to get to where I brought it inside to finish on the stove. Any suggestion on how to get it to burn hotter. I'm using mostly dead pine cedar and maple for wood. I can get the fire roaring but it seems to only boil in center of pan. The space I have between the pan and sand is 4 1/2-5" is that to much?

[red maples]

a few things. size of wood...needs to be like the size of kindling...and add wood every 3-5 minutes...I used to put a pot on top across 2 pieces of wood to use as a pre heater, so I wasn't adding cold sap and loose my boil. and I put flat patio blocks in front of the fire to control the draft. because if the air is coming right at your fire it will push the flames to the center of the pan.

and you should be at I guess 5 gallons an hour or so boiling rate.

Last year it took all day to get a gallon of syrup.

[sapbrush]

build a firebrick wall inside the arch about a foot from the hole for the stove pipe, leave about a 2 inch gap, it will make a difference jim