CDL or Lapierre 2x6 evaporator?

[n8hutch]

I have a 2.5x8 and it has a 30x30 syrup pan with same side reverse flow, turn 2 valves and it flows the opposite way through the syrup pan. It's a great system. I do wish the pan was bigger at times I'm Boiling 10% concentrate, but overall it worked good this year, I definitely wouldn't want a 2' syrup pan but that's just me.

I really looked hard at the Lappiere Storm evaporator before I went the direction I did. I think it's a nice unit. I just think the syrup pan setup is better than the CDL on these smaller rigs. Have you looked at D&G or L.S. Bilodeu? They make some nice stuff too, I would look at as many rigs as you can.

Also consider how easy the flue pan is to clean, I have Smoky Lake Pans and all though I like them very much I suspect that they may be harder to clean compared to others, I have 14 flues in my pan that's a lot stuffed into a 30" wide pan. In my experience which may not be true for everyone you need to clean the flue pan more often boiling concentrate.

[BAP]

Another brand people are pleased with is Thor Evaporator. I have their predecessor’s evaporator, Algier Evaporator. Mine is a 2’x8’ with a 5’ raises flue reversible and a 3’ reverse flow Syrup pan on a standard wood arch. I added a blower to the arch which helped a lot. I have 227 taps, 18 on 5/16” gravity, 110 on a Shurflo pump and the rest on 3/16”. The evaporator does well size wise, although I would like to eventually add a steam hood and preheater to gain just a little more. An Air tight arch would help some too.

[VT_K9]

I have a different 2x6 and have moved up in size. If you think you are going to be expanding soon then I would look at a larger evaporator as mentioned like a 2x8. Then you can look at an r/o as your next step then hoods, pre-heater, steam away as your budget allows. We had 400 taps on vacuum with the 2x6 and ran an r/o. I would not do that any other way than have a larger evaporator. We ran about 275-325 taps without vac or sap puller on the 2x6 and it was a very comfortable 4-6 hour boil. Once the vac was added the r/o was important. I think for the money the r/o is a better investment than hood and pre-heater. That is why I recommended a 2x8 then go from there.

Mike

[Russell Lampron]

Thanks Russ, I'm not in love with it. I spent a year and a half tweeking it and it can be cantankerous to keep a gradient on. I am fascinated by the RO. There's a guy on youtube that made his own out of two water filters, two shallow well jet pumps and a 4"x44" RO. He said he now has added a second RO canister and is getting 50 GPH at 8 to 10 brix. Does this sound reasonable? I have everything except the RO canister and filter so it caught my attention.

I'm assuming that the 50 gph that the guy on youtube is getting is concentrate which means that he is taking roughly 150 gallons of water out of 2% sap to get it to 8% in that hour. Not bad for a homemade RO.

I have been boiling concentrate since 2005 in my 2x6 evaporator with a 2x2 syrup pan and don't have any problems doing it. I can see where the draw offs could be a little smoother with a bigger pan. I wouldn't let that be a deal breaker. There are a lot of producers boiling concentrate with 2x6 evaporators with 2x2 syrup pans.

[Wmmaple]

Thanks everyone. Going to take a quick look at a used Lapierre Storm 2x8 that a local guy is thinking of upgrading. 36 to 38 gph burning hardwood on natural draft, no AUF or RO. Had to have side extensions made for the flue pan as he was getting too much splash over on his heavy boils. Might be too much of a hot rod for me lol. I'm 90% sold on the Lapierrre, 2x8 if the budget allows, 2x6 if not. The salesman that I am dealing with is terrific, 3rd generation sugar maker, so that has played a part in my decision. Still going to look at the CDL as they are close to each other. I contacted most of the others mentioned before my 1st post, some didn't respond which I get as this is their busiest time of year, some were considerably more money. Really appreciate and I took into consideration all advice and I'll post what I ended up with. Sure i'll have many more questions about RO, hoods, preheaters ect. so the experience and expertise is valued from all the responses. My wife creeped my post and informed me that I don't need encouragement to spend more on maple equipment lol. Thanks again.

[Ekrueger]

I built my own arch, AOF/AUF, hood and preheated systems. I will try to gather up some pictures. I also made some covers for the float boxes. I made drawings for some of the components which I can share if you want to send me a pm.

[Ekrueger]

Here are some photos:
IMG_0125.jpgIMG_0124.jpgIMG_0122.jpgIMG_0122.jpgIMG_1532_1.jpgIMG_0312.jpg

[Wmmaple]

Well ended up buying the Lapierre classic 2x6. I intended on the 2x8 but I would have had to reconfigure the shack, smoke stack etc. I’m going to add AUF and am making a hood and preheater. Thanks again for all the help

[Russell Lampron]

Well ended up buying the Lapierre classic 2x6. I intended on the 2x8 but I would have had to reconfigure the shack, smoke stack etc. I’m going to add AUF and am making a hood and preheater. Thanks again for all the help

Re-configuring the sugar house was the main reason that I went with an RO when it was time to upgrade. The cost of a larger evaporator and the cost of rebuilding my sugar house was more than 3 times what it cost to buy the RO.

[Russ008]

Been going through old post as I'm researching replacement evaporators. I'm interested how this worked out .