new evap ?

[ejmaple]

i'am having a tough time deciding on which brand of new 2 x 6 evaporators to get. i've seen the leader patriot, lapierie storm, dalliare pro, but not pheneuf. price and unprofessionalism aside which one do you all think is the best as far as efficiency and craftmanship. all but the pheneuf i can pickup fairly close by, and if i do go with pheneuf i will pick it up myself. i've read many post about the quailty of pheneuf but do you think any of the others really compare, i would rather not drive to Can. and rather buy local. thank to all who share their knowledge.
ed

[Haynes Forest Products]

I vote for Lapierie Only because that is what I have and I havent been able to break it or have it cause any problems. I Have bent up the finish pans with a fire and after punding them back into shape with a rubber mallet on the barn floor they went back into shape:cry:

[BryanEx]

One other option to seriously look into Ed - WF Mason (http://wfmasonwelding.com/home.html)

[ejmaple]

i've never looked into wf mason. pretty nice stuff at a good price. his 2x6 is rated at 35 gph with "drop tubes", first time i've ever seen drop tubes, seems practical.

[3rdgen.maple]

Tough question for sure. It seems we all have our certain preferences. I know I can run a pretty consistant 40 gph on my phanuef with good wood. A few things for you to maybe help aid in your decision. I would get a count on the number of flues each manufacturer has, the depth of the flues, how high are the sides of the pans (the higher the better)is the syrup pans just flat sheet metal with dividers welded or are they individual formed sections welded together, whaat guage steel, does the arch come with 2 doors or 1 if you are not looking for a tight arch. Wether or not the pans are reversible with pulling a few plugs or the pan has to be removed and rotated to reverse flow is irrelevent in my book cause reverse flow on a small rig does not work.

[WF MASON]

The 2'x6' drop tube I do list at 35gph, although many have told me they get 40gph with less talk and more fireing.
wfmasonwelding.com

[Brent]

This last few boils I tried to keep a better track of what I could put through my Phaneuf. I used to think it would do 45 GPH but now I think it's closer to 40, with a double hood and Patrick's preheater.

Mine is too small for 600 plus taps. I've just asked him for a quote on a bigger one.

[Russell Lampron]

Brent what are you talking about? With that RO machine you you should be able to handle 1000 taps with ease. I am doing 700 with mine and there are days when there just isn't enough sap to make it worth boiling. I like to have 1000 gallons or more on hand to make a boil of it. Then it only takes about 3 hours to get it all boiled.

[Brent]

Rus the problem I have is that the local customers don't really want the syrup I'm making. The almost all want darker syrup. I am suspecting that the red or silver maples that are 80-90 of our bush just don't want to make dark stuff.

When I cranked up the RO to 12% the syrup looked like cane syrup. The last days of the run were still Ontario Light, which is the second lightest grade so I really think I've got to back of on the concentration and cook longer. And I really don't have time for 18 hour boils. I sort of feel like a dog chasing his tail

[Haynes Forest Products]

Brent have you thought of making Dark B at the end of the year buy setting aside the amount you want and on the last good run of the season start to reintroduce finished syrup and the last sap you have and cook it so it darkens up. Keep on your toes and remember your cooking syrup in the flues. As you draw off during the boil put it back into the flue with the new sap cook all day.MMMMMMMMMMM simmer in the finisher if you have one.

[Russell Lampron]

Brent recirculating your sap and getting to a higher concentration level in the end may help with the color. The longer that you recirc it the darker the finished product. I found that out after I bought a new membrane. It didn't take as long to get to 18% and my syrup went from dark to medium. I haven't made any light syrup in years.

[Brent]

Haynes
well yes we thought of that but with this weather and already dumped a ton of ropy stuff, we decided to bring in some pails and the last off the syrup pan and re-cook it in the kitchen. Seems to be working. Looks darker and tastes better. Got to get some in the grading bottles to really know.

Funny when we first started we were celebrating that we got Canada A Extra Light, thinking it was beginners luck. Now we don't want it and can't make it go away.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Im all for the public regulating the type of syrup they like and want with there $$$$$. When I got into this hobby we would get all our bottles from Jorn's sugar bush in door County. They had a big sign out front that said if it ain't light it ain't right. The wife would get snippy about us making syrup and bottling the dark inferior syrup. I'm not dogging guys with RO some day I hope to get one. But they do have a few draw backs and light syrup is one of them:lol: