Smoky Lake Hybrid as a back pan?

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Hey everyone I just had my first boil yesterday on my homemade 2x5 oil tank arch (2x3 flat back pan with 2x2 front syrup pan both from Smoky Lake) and I get about 15gph running it normal and can push it up to 18-20GPH. I've been running this same setup for a couple years now and it does a great job but I am getting the itch to make some upgrades for next season. There is a lot of wasted heat going up the chimney that just isnt being absorbed by the flat back pan so ive always wanted to upgrade that to a flue pan either raised or drop but I was pricing some options out this morning on the SL website and the first thing is they only make drop or raised flue pans starting at 2x4 size and starting at $3,750 for the drop flue. I dont really need or want to extend my arch to accommodate a 2x4 back pan so I started thinking i wonder if anyone has ever run one of the hybrid pans with a front syrup pan. I saw one post in a thread where DoubleBrookMaple mentioned having a 2x2 front syrup pan with a hybrid in the back so it seems possible. I can get a 2x3 hybrid pan for $1,930 which is much more budget friendly. I have a couple questions:

1. How far down do the drop flues extend below the mounting surface? I currently have 2" of space under my back flat pan and i just cant picture what the bottom of these hybrid pans looks like. I see the hybrid pan for the half pint calls out 4.5" deep flues.
2. Do you think having the two extra channels in the back pan before the front pan would cause any major issues? My back pan is currently divided and i dont have any issues with making syrup back there.
3. Do you think 20-25gph would be realistic?

At this point I am not committed to the idea and dont really need to make upgrades but it could be fun. It seems like a good more budget friendly way to make an improvement. I have 50 taps and boil after work during the week and try to keep my boils to 3 hours or so but could easily add more taps in the future. I am not ready to jump on the RO train just yet as I dont have a good place to keep it from freezing and keep things clean etc. I have thought about setting up an RO system in my basement of my house in my well room but dont really feel like dealing with pumps and more storage tanks etc at this point maybe some day ill build a sugar shack.

[littleTapper]

Looks like their product page says those pans also have 4.5" deep flues.

https://www.smokylakemaple.com/produ...hobby-pro-pan/

Can you swing the 2x5' hybrid pan and then sell your current pans to pull down the overall cost? May get a better boil rate making it worth the little bit extra $....

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Yeah of course i saw the 4.5" depth listed after posting this haha. Thats not a bad idea just going with the 2x5 pan but i kind of like having the front syrup pan in case I burn some syrup and destroy the pan i would only have to replace the 2x2 pan. I am guessing the 2x5 hybrid as longer flues so i would get better GPH out of it. Thanks for the input!

Edit. It looks like the 2x3 hybrid has 20" long flues and the 2x5 has 39" long flues so that would be a big difference. I think the real solution here is more taps and just get a real 2x4 drop flue pan haha.

[littleTapper]

Yeah, it does make sense to avoid total catastrophe!

Floats/float boxes are worth their weight in gold. I put a Leader Half Pint float in my Smoky Lake 2x4 divided pan and it works great (and then no issues sterilizing a float box when shutting down). Makes it so much easier and less likely to have things go sideways.

The solution is always more taps! Ha!

[Pdiamond]

You could always talk to Jim at Smoky Lake and see what he thinks about your idea. You might be able to trade or sell your current unit and get enough out of it and get yourself a raised flue 2 x 4 evaporator from SL. That will really increase your GPH.

[darkmachine]

I run a smoky lake hybrid drop flue 2x4 with a sunrise evaporator 2x2 syrup pan. I got the pans used, I it was an older SL pan, I had a local metal shop weld in two dividers in the section of the SL pan, and weld on a 2" sanitary coupler so i could attach it to the front pan. The only issue that i have so far is that if i am boiling really hard, and i don't have good head pressure from my feed tank down to my float box (this happens at the end of a run) the sap from the front 2x2 will pull back through to the front of the hybrid pan to make up for all the evaporation. If i elevate my feed tank more I should be able to eliminate this issue. here is a link to my evaporator build, some pics of the pans i have too. eventually i think i will get a new set of SL pans for my 2x6 and go with a raised flue setup even though it has two float boxes.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BLdx6TPjNdSXgoGY9

[BAP]

Look around for a different source for a pan than Smokey Lake. There are several, smaller companies out there that make great products that you can work with to get what you really want, not something that will sort of work. Companies like A&A, Creekside Welding, Nextgenmaple and I am sure there are others. Don’t buy just because someone has a website for easy ordering. Talk to the manufacturers and see who is willing to make what you want to fit what you have. They all make good equipment.

[The Heldeberg Sapper]

Thanks for all the input everyone!