Small Maple Syrup Arch

[Joef0113]

Hello all,

I am very green to making maple syrup, as we just finished up our second year. We currently have a 3'x2' pan (wishing we would have bought at 4'x2'), but it works and we are going to stick with it for a few years. I am currently looking to build a small arch but don't want to build anything without some opinions first. I drafted up a conceptual plan that is attached as to what I had in mind. I do have a couple questions:

1. Would this design work for its size or am I over engineering it and need to make it simpler?

2. Are the dimensions of the fire box enough? I am concerned that it is not deep back or it is tall inside.

Any critique, comments or suggestions are welcome! Excuse me if I am not correct on all of my terminology as well.

Thank you!
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[Brian]

I would make the arch alittle longer and make the stack come up be hind the rear of the pan.

[Russell Lampron]

To expand on what Brian said make it long enough so that the stack can come up behind the pan and make it a foot longer. Put a plate over the extra foot so that you can remove the plate to put a 2x4 pan on in the future.

I would put the draft door where the ash clean out is and move the firing door down. Make or buy grates to put the fire on. I would also fill the gap under the rear of the pan to within 1.5" of the pan.

Use 2" angle iron for the top rails and widen the arch so that there's 23" between the rails. The pan only needs to sit on a 1/2" of the rail on each side and will boil better with more exposure to direct flame.

Make the firebox 20" deep so that you can use 16" wood and have a little room to put longer pieces in.

Lastly make the ramp at a steeper angle to direct the flames up a little closer to the front of the pan.

This would be a complete redesign of what you have drawn but would be more efficient and expandable.

[Z/MAN]

I also agree on making the firebox a little deeper. It is the one thing I would change on my arch if I had to do it over. Check out my build in my photos.

[Joef0113]

Thank you all for your ideas, I will redesign on what you all said. Very helpful.