thinking of moving up to hobby evaporator - questions

[Drew Pond Maple]

I had a small 18" x 48" evaporator I got from the maple guys (gratuitous plugs never hurt). I managed to get 10 gal/hr without air and better with.

I'd get something with flues and a cross flow finishing pan. If you can, float pans. Screw in ports for probes. Pre heater of some kind.

I did the exact same thing, except the preheater. The thermometer port made it way easier to monitor temp and homemade float box was great for sap depth in pans.
My pan had flues

[Maplemonkey]

Great suggestions from all
I like the looks and pricing on the Mason 2x4 with divided pan that looks like a sweet rig.

If I want it for 2019 it looks like I might need to order sooner than later

Any other suggestions or advice is always appreciated. Learning a lot from this forum

[johnpma]

I have a Mason 2 X 3 which I purchased from a member here. I have been very happy with the unit. We cut and burn good hard wood pallets. I have the blower on a speed control and with a roaring oak fire i can get the pipes cherry red. I was able to achieve 8-9 gph and hope to increase that this year with some "inside" enhancements I made with the bricking, insulating, and height of the wall. I do have a pre-heater which is over the flu pan which does a little but not as much as a pre-heater over the flame. Overall I'm very happy with the unit. We are going to try 100 taps this year with it up from 85 last year.

[lords sugaring]

There's always an option of making your own arch and buy a good used pan or new one depending on budget and skill set. There's plenty of plans on here for lots of different types of archs, 55 gallon drums, 275 gallon oil tanks, cement block archs, and steel built rigs. Nothing wrong with the home made stuff and you can save yourself a good chunk of money doing it yourself. Expansion always needs to be in the back of your mind, I'm sure none of us thought in the beginning that we would be tapping everything on our property, asking neighbors to tap their trees, buying sap, and or leasing property to tap. Once bitten by the maple bug there's really no return lol. I just purchased a 2x5 raised flue rig for around $3500, not sure of your budget or what the smaller rigs are going for. I'm stepping up from my home built 2.5 x 4 rig which did ok but I don't have 8+ hours to commit to boiling

[mol1jb]

There's always an option of making your own arch and buy a good used pan or new one depending on budget and skill set. There's plenty of plans on here for lots of different types of archs, 55 gallon drums, 275 gallon oil tanks, cement block archs, and steel built rigs. Nothing wrong with the home made stuff and you can save yourself a good chunk of money doing it yourself. Expansion always needs to be in the back of your mind, I'm sure none of us thought in the beginning that we would be tapping everything on our property, asking neighbors to tap their trees, buying sap, and or leasing property to tap. Once bitten by the maple bug there's really no return lol. I just purchased a 2x5 raised flue rig for around $3500, not sure of your budget or what the smaller rigs are going for. I'm stepping up from my home built 2.5 x 4 rig which did ok but I don't have 8+ hours to commit to boiling

Great advise here. I just finished building my new 2x6 arch with used 2x6 raised flue pans.
B20BC506-0E04-4E2F-92E2-10AD92928164.jpg

It takes a lot of planning and helps a lot to have the pans first since not every pan set is exactly 2x6. And I had this welded with help from a friend since I have no welding experience. The stainless sides were salvaged. The angle iron I had lying around. The used pan set was from bascom and they usually have a good selection of different sizes. But it did take me 6 months to complete everything so ample planning and time ahead are key.

[A1Builder]

could you tell me what size nozzle is in your oil burner for your 2x6 arch.

[Sugarmaker]

What about one of these bucket R.O's which I know nothing about but might cut your boiling time in half?
Regards,
Chris