Maple Syrup 2007

Olde Fashion Maple Syrup - 2007

& Power Boiler...

This installment on our annual Maple Syrup production is based largely on a project that I like to call the "Power Boiler".

The power boiler will be based on this old diesel tank that has been rusting away in our yard.

I happened into a particularly nice day in early March that saw the rough cutting on the tank.

A door to load wood, and an opening for the sap pan to sit into.

The tank is made from 1/8" steel, and sturdy enough to hold it's shape after cutting the openings.

The opening for the pan is cut such that the square rails on the pan support it on the edges of the tank.

Some simple shrouding is welded in place to contain the heat, ash & smoke beneath the pan.

The exhaust is fashioned from a short length of fire extinguisher canister.

The opening is positioned approximately at the mid point of the back, in the hopes that the smoke would circulate within the tank for more complete combustion and higher heat.

I knew that there was about 2 inches of water contaminated fuel in the base of the tank.

I didn't want to just dump it or have it contaminate the foundry fuel supply so I opted to burn it out.

It took a few minutes of burning crumpled newspaper before the fuel finally caught, but once going I was surprised at how much energy was still embedded in it.

Syrup production likely wouldn't have happened at all this year if I hadn't lucked into a load of slab-wood from a local saw mill.

Given there isn't really enough snow to haul wood out of the bush by snowmobile, but too much for the truck, this is the perfect solution. And at $10 per bundle (4 on this truck load) the price is right.

Each bundle is held together by steel bands, and provides a secure stack that is easily cut to lengths with the chainsaw.

For the spring and fall this type of wood is ideal for both the house and theworkshop.ca as it throws a quick, heat that takes the chill out of the air.

I'm hoping that given the size of the power boiler I can stoke enough wood in it to burn for at least an hour at a time.

The unit pictured to the left is an AC blower from a gas water heater, that was recovered from the local scrapyard.

The silver bit with the hoses attached is a pressure sensor that engages the blower. It was quickly removed (but saved for some future project).

Given that the blower was left outside for a few weeks at the yard, I fully dis-assembled, cleaned and lubed it.

Since it has no brushes or wound armature I think that it is a "Squirrel Cage" motor.

I cut and mounted a simple grill to prevent little fingers on inquisitive children or simple adults from getting hurt.

A new AC cord and switch are wired in with an appropriate frame ground.

The blower will feed a 5 foot length of 2" steel pipe that has 1/8th" holes drilled along it's length inside the boiler's fire-box.

The end of the tubing is closed to ensure an even distribution of air.

Back out to the Boiler's shell, the fire-box is lined with concrete blocks to a) insulate and protect the steel shell, and b) act as a refractory of sorts to reflect the heat back into the fire for even more improved boiling potential.

Given the light duty use that the boiler will see, I'm hoping that the blocks can survive for a couple of season's at least.

The door is a simple affair comprised of the plate steel removed from the opening and a skirt of angle iron (bed-frame) to add a measure of rigidity and over-lap to the opening.

Above the door is mounted with some old hinges welded into place. With a latch fabricated out of an old wrench. Just inside the fire-box (in the image to the right) the end of the forced air tube is just noticible.

While the above has been going on we've had a series of thaws and freezes, but with a 1 week cold front forecast well in advance.

I wanted to finish up the boiler, and ensure I had wood before hanging buckets, as once the sap starts to flow it can't be stored for more than a day or two especially if the temps start rising again.

This is the first load of buckets, as well as an inverter and batteries to power an electric drill.

The buckets are quickly hung, but we're back into minus 15C degree weather for a few days.

No sap is running, but the buckets have to be emptied when ever it snows.

We did get one warm afternoon that the sap did run on, but as the sun made it's way around the other side of the tree, icicles formed in the cooler shadow.

The sap barrel is fitted with a short length of hose.

All is washed out and ready for the next warming trend.

Every year we have friends come out for the weekend, and hope that we've timed everything to boil-down when their here.

The boiler is just warming-up with the first pan of sap.

The weather cooperated enough that we collected about 150 liters of sap in a day and a half.

The concrete lining is holding up well, and the forced air blower is working like a charm.

Perhaps a little too well as the sap pan developed a wall that went all wavy from the heat when we let it get too low with sap.

And being March, the day turned against us with about 5 cm of snow in the late afternoon.

This was a double drag as we still had about an hour of boiling down at a point where it couldn't be left unattended.

The picture to the left barely captures the amount of snow that was falling (and obviously it wasn't spring-like temperatures outside either)

The sap is boiling down nicely...

At the end of the day we yielded 4 (four) liters of finished syrup from 150 liters of sap...

A few bottles have already been given out to friends, and I expect that we'll have a total production of 10 to 12 Liters over the next week provided the weather co-operates.

Our syrup unfortunately is always of the "Dark" variety, where as the "Light" grade is what takes the "Blue Ribbon" in competitions. But it tastes just fine to us, especially knowing that it is a product of our labors.

The "Power-Boiler" has met all of my design criteria, faster cycle time on the sap to syrup continuum, reduced contaminants into the pan during processing, reduced smoke and spark hazards to the boiler operator(s). With an added bonus of much quieter operations with the smaller (refurbished) blower over the shop-vac that we'd used in the past. As well as a substantial reduction in wood required for the actual firing of the boiler.

All materials are 100% recycled scrap that was on-site. The only virgin material used for this installment was the welding wire that literally holds all the bits and pieces together.

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