planning new sugar Shack: 12 x 20 or 14 x 18?

[claystroup]

Our household director of finance has given me the green light to build a sugar shack this coming summer. I can build up to 250 square feet without a permit in my township. I am considering a 12 x 20 or 14 x 18. I now the 14x 18 is technically 252 square feet but the building inspector said that was close enough. I have a new mason 2 x 5 evaporator and may add different pans in the future but will not change the arch. I am tapping 80 taps this year and would max out at about 150 in the future with all the trees available in my area. If needed I could add RO in my other heated barn so that would not be needed in the sugar shack but I would like to boil, filter and finish and bottle in the Shack. Plus I would like some storage to keep fire wood inside for a days run. Would extra length or width be the most beneficial?

[bigschuss]

I've got a 2x4 Mason in a 12x16 shack. I would personally like a little more width on each side of the evaporator. Good luck with your build.

[Jcrawfo]

My sugar house is on the side of my garage and is 11 x 22. I do all my bottling etc... in there plus keep extra wood. I wish it was wider. That would give you more room around the arch especially with visitors. Just my 2 cents.

[mspina14]

I have a 2X4 Mason in an 8X12 shack that I built from a kit.

Needless to say, its a little tight in there.

But we don't finish or bottle in the shack. We do that in my house's kitchen, which is 30 feet from the shack (my wife is not thrilled...).

I'll be adding an 8X12 addition to the existing shack sometime in the future to use for finishing and bottling.

If I had a choice, I'd make the shack longer than wider. Most of the space I need is in front of the arch (for storing wood to be burned, etc.)


Mark

[maple flats]

I suggest you go for a permit and go even larger. I had a 2x6 and a 16x24 bottler when I built my 16x24 sugarhouse. That seemed as large as I might ever need. Now, 13 years later I have a 3x8, an RO with small RO room, a filter press, bottler, 2x6 finisher, a double bowl SS sink, a compressor, 28 gal draw off tank and a bottling rack. I am way too cramped, but have not forced the issue to build an addition. It would have been far easier to have made it 20x30 in the beginning (or even 24x36 in my case).
Go for the permit and start right, even if the budget dictates that you might not be able to finish it all this summer. If that's the case, do it in stages as you can.

[Brad W Wi]

Go as big as you can. Down the road you'll be glad you did.

[BAP]

Another way to do it, would be to go a little higher than you might think you should so that in the future you can add on to the side to make it wider. If you go a little higher you would be able to tie into the roof and bring it out over the addition. Then you can make openings in the original sidewall to tie the rooms together.

[Tater]

It appears to me that you know how you plan to use the shack and what your options are for expanding in the future. A 2x5 with an RO should easily handle 150 taps, so either size will be fine. I suggest you plan your layout so that you know exactly where everything will go with either size. You will likely want your wood close to the evaporator, so determining how the evaporator will sit in the shack will probably affect where the wood gets stacked. Then it's a matter of deciding where your finishing/bottling equipment will go. If you have a good idea of what equipment you will use (or may expand to in the future) you can plan your entire process moving from evaporator to the bottle. Of course, you'll want some type of seats (for yourself and for the visitors that will show up), and a dedicated coffee area might be a good idea.

Figure out which layout seems to be the best and build it. Or you could do like most of use and just build something and say later, "I sure wish I had thought about that before I did it this way."

[CTsap]

I went with 16x20 and boil on a 2x3. I have intentions of going bigger down the road. I like having the width on each side. Plenty of room for spectators and wood. Good luck with the build.

[Russell Lampron]

My sugarhouse is 12x24 with an 8x24 woodshed on one side. I wish the whole thing was bigger. I would go with the width over the length if it is going to be 1 room. If you think you will be making it into 2 rooms with a separate room for canning and filtering you will want to go with the longer building.