drop tube pan..

[Babcock Maple]

any one out there have any pictures or information on a drop tube evaporator? and if anyone has heard or used one of these how good do they work?

[BarrelBoiler]

Search "drop tube" or KenWP he did alot with them over the summer into the fall i don't know how his has worked out

[KenWP]

Mine works great. I can boil in 10 hours what took me three days of 15 hours boiling a day. The drop tube pans are at a rolling boil lond before the syrup pan thinks of boiling. One pan I had to make 6 inch sides for it so that its almost 16 inches deep and the other I use a screen to stop the sap from going all over the place.
I used SS tubeing as it was half the price of copper up here. I made the tubes 6 inches long then belled them about 3/16 of a inch. To seal the bottom of the tube I sliced 1/4 inch slices off of a piece of 1 1/8 SS shaft that just fit in the tube so dinged the edge of the tube in a bit then hammered the slice of shaft down tight in the bottom. To keep it there I drilled three holes in from the side and staked it with 10 gauge copper wire. That was the first pan. The second pan I had learned my lesson and made a welder and then welded the slices in instead. That took me so much less time it wasn't funny.
I soldered them in to the pan and then got the leaks fixed and away I went. I would build another some day if I ever find the right materials and make one large pan instead of two small ones. 18x16 is the size I used.

[RileySugarbush]

Here is how I built mine:

http://web.mac.com/jabushey/iWeb/Riley%20Retreat/Maple%20Sugaring.html

They can work great and I highly recommend them as the easiest way to make homemade flue pans.

[Babcock Maple]

Hey thanks for the info. im thinking very serious about making one of these pans this summer . i just wasn't sure how good it would work but by the sounds they work pretty good.... thanks again

[RileySugarbush]

They work really well. If you look around that site there is a short video clip somewhere of them boiling. I have made three or four of them. I passed them on to beginning maplers and they are all still in use after many years.