International 574 Woodgas Conversion

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He’s a lucky guy, and I believe it will stick with him, sure hope so.

Hi Leon, my tractor is rated 62hp it has a 200.1 cid engine and does all the chores I put it to. I would like to know its limits compared to gasoline but all I know is it has more power on gasoline, but wood is free.
I have a 40kw pto generator to run on it but have not hooked up enough load to check its limits, but I don’t think it would put out 40kw.
Arvid Olson has a really nice unit on his tractor and it sounds nice running, and I think Waynes 444 has a 150 cid engine but I am not familiar with the JD tractors.

We got the wood burner busy hauling logs today,my dad drove it for three hours straight we hauled 6 loads of logs, It ran so well I don’t think my Dad would have known it was running on wood except I told him!!

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I like that. :grin:

Jeff

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Very cool, I really like this tractor model.

A man, on his tractor, doing productive work, interacting with the world we live in, is a very special place. I have ford memories from earliest childhood.

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I have had the occasion to visit Ron factory . It is worth a long drive just to see his operation . :blush:

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Yea Carl,I think this is why Dad likes driving it soo much, and me too, we used to farm in the 70s all I can remember is the fun stuff.
The largest tractor we used was a 1066 today those are just toys. :smile:
And today it costs $ 00.00 for fuel!!

It’s only a toy for monocrop farm factories. For a REAL farmer, still very viable. The further I get from 50 the more I appreciate something that will lift and move things when I tell it to - which is more than I can say for my knees and back.

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HI ron i bet that tractor drank gas like a fish out of water,or 4 gallon an hour saveings, ? THATS a nice size duty tractor, I bet you are glad it done,are you useing spring on hopper door,it looks like it hinges away from driver for burp safty.I know you been DOW ing scrap wood awile,as a few sawmill folks have, just bet black guy yesterday that worked at sawmill years ago,and his boss have gasifed truck.20 years ago or so. BBB PS back in my 20’s in the 80’s i seen smoke leaking out a guys barrow, and i ask him in the back parking lot what was smokeing,and he explained what it was.BREIFLY

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The lid has a single leafspring for the pressure relief .with a turnbuckle so you can set the tension.

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Thanks Ron ,I may be building in that order,my hopper door is a ways from the 23" top 24" sides.

I used to have a 1066 toy tractor with duals and a cab with an 8 bottom moldboard plow. lol

Some friends had one and it was actually good for pulling the larger disks and chisel plows.
But that was about the time, people started stopping using the moldboard plows, and just got bigger heavier disks at least around here.

btw I love what you did with the 574, and I liked the video’s of your pallet factory although still waiting for #2, you are leaving us in suspense. :slight_smile:

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If I didn’t know any better I’d say that Ron has saw dust in his blood… 🙋

Jeff

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Hi Kevin; here are some close up pics of my lid, the hinge and spring. The design is taken from the MEN plans having one point in the center of the lid for pressure evenly presses it down to seal well,.the back end of the leaf spring works to keep the lid from falling over backwards.Some people have welded a handle out from side of the lid so you don’t have to reach over the opening to shut the lid.This is an Imbert style and has to have a tight seal to work right. If I open the lid while the motor is runnig the engine will die.
The hinge is two 1/2" or 3/8 elbows and a short nipple with the leaf spring welded across it., I hope this helps you on your project it is really simple

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Yes sir that helps,i have another veiw of a way too make a lid and spring,Good solid hinge and puffer, lid,that all most looks like a top cut off from 20" water heater, I may have one strait enough.THANKS RON,and for the wood for the dow, group, meetings.I am checking for height sizeing in morning,might be better than the recessed one i had in mind,may bind up.

Ron, I have a lid to my hopper similar to yours, BUT, I can’t see how you lid can open during a “burp”. One end of the leaf spring is secured to the hopper with a welded pipe and the other end is held tight with the turnbuckle fastened to the hopper. Just because you used a piece of leaf spring doesn’t mean it will bend and spring back. Have you ever had a “burp” where you saw the lid raise and gases escape? My lid is very similar to yours only it is just flat steal that I bent into a slight curve similar to your spring. The big difference is I placed a Chev valve spring over the bolt in the center of the lid, between the lid and the spring plate. With your turnbuckle adjusted so the spring is just slightly compressed. When I get a burp there is plenty of spring left to compress and open the lid just enough. I get a "burp " almost every time I light it up.
Thanks again for the successful DOW get together. Maybe next year I will get there soon enough to take the tour of your plant…TomC

Hi Tom,

That’s how I made mine in the early 80’s and if I recall correctly it worked. Interesting to hear what Ron says.

Jeff

Hey TomC if you re-look with his latch end spring eye able to float then the spring can flex up (and over) a bit.
This has worked for MikeL too.
Regards
Steve Unruh