Life goes on - Winter 2016

Break the dam during the day go DOW till dust them at sunset go back and wait they will come out to fix it back up. They sleep all day waste of time trying to catch them before dusk.
Oh wait till you see the first wood floating down the water to the dam then you have them all out working

2 Likes

Or the standard conibear at the lodge entrance, or along the dam face.

Beaver ebola would be nice, please…

1 Like

Good morning Dan

The beavers seem to have a very good surveillance system and must be keeping up with my every move. If I am any where on the farm or within a mile they never show themselves. I believe they have a couple of scouts than can monitor my house and know exactly when I hit the bed and sleeping.

I believe my next move may be finding a 300 pound alligator and tie him at the culvert :relaxed:.

6 Likes

The people who are successful here have told me you have to hide just about sunset and wait till they actually start fixing the dam before you do anything the first round of inspection they will be nervous but once they start floating wood they are focused on fixing and don’t care they decided it was safe. I don’t actually hunt I have friends who handle this for me. Too much arthritis for me to want to play with guns.

1 Like

Led sled runs on wood. thanks drive on wood no vidio yet my camera dont work that great,

<img src="/uploads/default/original/3X/e/9/e9b6bdf890611ca664b5d1853500a7ea973c2797.jpg" width=“500” height=“500”>anyway just few pics. Drove around the block backed in the barn and checking temps, the ash dump lid never went over 240 f yet.the power was low as expected, i am running on one hay filter fuel line 1_1\2"pvc.so may need the other line hooked up. Lots of fine tuneing yet finding few leaks, the lid seal spring lid works good, ran the pusher blowers with hopper lid closed and the lid door spring works letting any back preasure out and keeping from building up any big burps. sorry about the lousy picks, my camera is junk and its a rainy cloudy Day. Once i get it up too 55 mph on a sunny day i will have a vidio of my old truck project driveing.Thanks DOW & Wayne and Chris.

14 Likes

Hi Wayne, I hope you get that nice beaver between the sheets. It’s been warm here (30’s) … I welded up my trailer hitch on my little red truck the other day. I also backfilled with body putty and painted black so the cops don’t notice and to reduce flex. Still plugging away slower everyday …Hope to burn some soon. I have to re-wire my fuel pump switch as it went bad a few months back. Mike
.

3 Likes

Congratulation!!! It has been a long time coming, but now you are there. An honest to goodness woodgas driver. TomC

1 Like

Hy Tom C Thanks for the congrads you know i earned it,it has been a long time getting too test it has , and it serprirized too hear it running that well first time around., i will add the other fuel tube and see how much power i pick up.i think i might drop too from 6" too 5" restricktor for winter any way. And my wood gas pedel only moves about 60 percent open.my wood is alittle on the damp side so getting some wood farther away from the open shed door.

3 Likes

I think food supply(alders here) is probably the big reason, but down behind me in the swamp the beaver haven’t been around as much since the coyote population increased.

1 Like

Congratulations Kevin .

I know you must have a big smile on your face . :yum:

2 Likes

Congratulations Kevin. you’re way ahead of me.

2 Likes

Thanks Wayne and mrDick Thodal . that old truck of mine runs good on wood and when i back in the barn and let it run few minuts and shut off it dont have the stink of the old carburator motors, no smoke at all,brilliat design mrWayne Keith.I am swithing sides on the carburator gasoine and wood gas throttle pedal, that will help.and adding the other gas pipe,? No not the gas line.:sunglasses: Ps as black as the hay filter water drain is when you stir the water it is only char ash on the sirface makeing it look like black muck.

4 Likes

I woke up to a foot of snow this morning. It has been cold and windy all day. I got about half of my clean out done all the important stuff around front but the snow banks are getting really high now. I hope we don’t get much more snow or it will start to really narrow up here. Tomorrow it should be less windy so I will get the other two barns opened back up. Seems like all I do is plow out this time of year just get it all cleared out and it snows again.

1 Like

We got that snow in VT.Here’s my plow. Goes on and off the forks pretty fast.

4 Likes

We have been missing most of the snow this year i plowed my drive 2 times 5" and 7" other time, it aint so bad if you have a plow rig.How ever i got some wood pies cut off for truck fuel now i need herbs chopping machine.

It took longer than i hoped, a mechanicle splitter and heavy duty chunker would be twise as fast and twise the emount.

4 Likes

I am not brave enough to use that chomping machine… band saws scare me enough that I don’t enjoy using them that flying wedge so close to your fingers isn’t for me…

I agree Dan A those chopping up the pie tools could get the fingers or at leaste i think i want a gaurd on mine too. What i have in mind is the later, a large rotateing flywheel hooked up too my 1 1/2 ton axel with belt or clutch and have the very large fly wheel doing most the torqe breaking the wood with rotor like cutting wheel or the standerd truck wheel cutting set up. That type set up with very largefly wheel on a clutch letting the large fly wheel free wheel untill the brake is aplied would work with smaller gear box. I will have too build with what i have and test. I know any won putting miles down with wood will want a hefty chunker ASAP , my arm is still soar from cutting all the pine pies with my small 14" chain saw. My next chain saw my be electric if can find a decent heavy duty model? I know the pile looks small in the pic, i have a sharp blade on the saw and spent at leaste 2 1/2 hours cutting, even with processing gasifier wood the hard slow way i would say there is at least 300 pounds wthey dry wood there.in my big truck that is about 150 miles times per gallon at 8 miles per gallon on dino. That is close too at least 20 gallons of dino or about 50 bucks of fuel saved at todays price per gallon.That aint a lot of saveings for all the work unless you get better chunking tools or in my case, 50 bucks i dont have its worth the work the hard way processing tools for short while.That Jo and kristien guys i envy makeing those tiny cars work on wood. My little wood pile wood get them little cars ,pickups 600 miles by the way they claim there milege.

3 Likes

Look how long it took you to build your gasifier and you are talking about building a chunker?? Mr. JO is probably driving just about as much as anyone is this time of year. He has a Rebak, but he cuts log disks, takes them to the basement and sits by the furnace, with the radio and chops them up. He feels he is earning more money by chopping wood than he would make at the plant. Giving up a couple of hours of TV will reward you with an equal amount of driving time. TomC

4 Likes

Well mr.Tom Collins i have not even checked my wood milege. I drove around block twice and only got up too about 35 or a little faster cause dont have much power, going out too run and hook up the other fuel tube hopeing that helps up too 50 or 60 mph, if chriss S old dodge went 65 p
Mph i should be able, have too see whare problem is. My bee i have air leaks that are plugging with tar, the only spoke leak i had at shut down was one i pluged with red sillow cone it front of hopper,I am not complaining other than i need a better tools then the pie type processor for wood haug old trucks.Thanks for your addvise on buying the book and getting all the general knollege, it was way more than worth the change it cost us too buy times 10. Ps your hopper door spring seems too be working good. PS i have a questain about your cushon open cell foam’ in the media filter.how thick too make it and how ofton you may have too take out and clean it.

1 Like

The open cell foam is 4 inches thick. I spend a lot of time changing things on my truck so anytime I have to open the hay filter hopper, I end up cleaning the foam. Much more often than needs to be.

Don’t worry about hitting 50 or 60 mph right away. I’m sure you have heard the WK guys talk about getting the char bed built up. That takes some time but I believe it will have an effect on the performance of your truck. My truck doesn’t have that large char bed to build up.

I thought I had seen where someone made a hopper hold down like that when I went through the pictures — couldn’t think who it was== thanks. TomC