building a stove for boiling sap??

[thecfarm]

I would like to build a stove for boiling sap.First off small scale,only 12 taps. I would like to build a stove to boil on. I am looking hard at a 2 foot by 3 foot pan,a store bought evaporator pan. But the stove part has me wondering. I would like to have the stove about 32 inches tall and about 32 inches wide.  The inside would be about 2 feet and each side about 4 inches thick,with sand inside of that 4 inches. Or maybe just have an empty void? I can make some sort of grates and a door. But the steel part has me wondering too. Could I get away with regular steel? I could run some angle bracing on the inside of the 4 inch space that I want to fill with sand to help out with warpage. Have seen that done on a few greenhouse stoves. Or do I need boiler steel? I suppose boiler steel is pricey??  I plan on lining the inside with fire brick,they are 9 inches high. Yes,I know I could buy a gallon of syrup a year cheaper.  ;D  But the wife really enjoys boiling sap.

[GAB]

Ray:
Do not use galvanized steel for boiling sap.  I'm told the end product is poisonous.  I have no first hand experience though.
As to what to use you need to do a cost/benefits analysis to see what is best for you and your wallet.
Enjoy tour sweet stuff.
Gerald

[thecfarm]

What little I know,a store bought one is SS and pricey,but that is what I am buying. I just checked the price and forgot all ready.I think it will do a job on a $200 bill. I do remember the SS sipot was almost $50.

[brewdog]

make sure to use food grade ss for your pans

[Peter Drouin]

Can you use an old box stove with the top off?
Or maybe an 55 gal drum on it's side cut a notch to set the pan in , Cut a door in the end. When it burns out cut another drum.

[Ford_man]

Check E-Bay for sap pans the 18x34x6 will fit on a 5 burner BBQ grill with very good heat control. Those pans are made in Hunington In.

[sprucebunny]

You can make the stove out of 3 high cement blocks with an opening at one end and a chimney at the other. Size it to fit the pan.
I think they make square 12" ID cement blocks for masonary chimneys.

Might find restaurant buffet SS pans at yard sales and used restraunt supply places but they probably won't be as deep.

[thecfarm]

Pan will be brought from a sap house supply dealer,so food grade. Yes,I know that. I should be able to get one at just about cost,I work in a hardware store and we order from the company that I was looking at.
Peter,I tried a stove,but was big enough.55 gallon metal drums are hard to come by.
Sprucebunny,I looked at those pans from a buffet years ago. We was just in a place that sold them the other day.No way to drain the sap out without tipping the tray up. Yes,it can be done,but I would not want to do it and I need Brenda to be able to do it too.I have a cement place no more than an hour from me,Just might check out the masonary blocks.

[mjeselskis]

I built this stove last year for the cost of the barrel stove kit. I put grating in it, and a baffle to divert the flame up onto the pan



My father-in-law had a sap stove built from an oil barrel for at least 15 years that lasted fine with some really hot fires in it.

[thecfarm]

That looks good. I also want to put the stove inside of a small sugar shack. With the roof vents and all. I will probably be saying the same thing next year too.  :

[LAZERDAN]

Did you think of a turkey fryer?  small time, good heat control, easy clean up, It works good for us and our 12 taps.     Lazerdan 

[thecfarm]

Ayup. But want wood heat. Fussy guy I am,I am. Be cheaper to use a fryer. A lot less work too.No wood to get.But it would be cheaper to just go buy it too. ;D

[Peter Drouin]

If you're going to do all that with a sap house over it' then get an arch and do it right.

[47sawdust]

Have you considered buying a used set-up?I would think you might be able to pick up a unit from someone who is upgrading or quitting sugaring.

[thecfarm]

Used,yes and no. Maybe need to check that out more. Have to remember SMALL scale here. 12 taps.I am even THINKING about going to a 2 foot SS food grade pan. We don't get alot of sap per day. 10 gallons is just about what we get per day,most times 8 is the norm. Hard to boil off sap in a 2X3 pan getting only 10 gallons a day.I have seen us get 5 gallons a day. I suppose I could store it for a couple days too.I think most of the units are set up with a 2X3 pan. Not a rich man here. I would not even want to spend $1500 on a unit.Going to be hard enough to spend out $800 for steel for the roof.  ;D

[r.man]

I have built 2 stoves, one for myself and one for a friend, both smallish. Both used an oval oil furnace tank as their base but my stove has an angle iron frame, bed rails, with the salvaged tank steel for infill. I built my friends by cutting down the tank and welding an angle iron rectangle on the top. His has a cut out door and draft door, mine was built from two pieces of heavy scrap I had. Both stoves work reasonably well but would work much better lined with firebrick. I have been saving an old wood furnace firebox and heat exchanger to make a new stove with but I gave it away this year to a friend who is boiling with it. The conversion on it was very easy, not much cutting or welding and he now has the best stove of the three of us.

[thecfarm]

I kinda am planing on a ¼" thick steel for the outside walls. Than ¼" angle to cut down on the wapage. Or so I think I need angle steel. Yes,on the fire bricks. Yes,on the cut outs for the door and the ash door.

[mapleveneer]

I used to boil using a 2x6 ft Grimm lightning set up on a homemade arch.  The arch was simply an angle iron frame with probably 20-24 ga sheet metal infill.  Line it with mortared fire bricks and the steel really sees no heat at all.  You can have the fires of hell inside it and still touch the outside.  You just need to figure out how to do a loading door and a flue connection.

[thecfarm]

Firebrick I can get from work,at a discount.Sounds like I won't have to worry about the sides warping. Still a thinking.

[Corley5]

  A 2X3 pan is probably a little oversized for 12 taps    Mason's 2X3 evaporator is rated for 1-50 taps.

[thecfarm]

Yes,that is right. I'm thinking of a 2x2 food grade pan too. Really the only way a 2x3 would work for me is to collect for 3-4 days without boiling. 

[21incher]

For a 2 x 2   it seems to me it would cost less to buy a old flat top wood stove and modify it to hold the pan. 1/4" steel goes for over 50 cents a pound around here.  I use a 24" carbon steel wok over a wood fire for the 12 trees I tap and can only do about 10 gallons a day max.

[thecfarm]

I have a flat piece of ¼" steel,I think at least 4 feet square,leaned up against a tree. Than I have a pile of angle,square,round,flat stock too. It just won't look pretty when done. Metal is rusted. I tried a wood stove,BUT it had a small fire box and just could not get the wood into for the heat.

[Corley5]

Here's some really good plans.  We're building the 2X4 that Medic421 posted.  The arch is done but the pans aren't going to be done in time for this season.  We'll have them for next year.

https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/search.html?q=syrup+evaporator&backendClass=entity

[thecfarm]

Yes,nice plans. Might be beyond my thinking.