Mother Earth News Fair | Belton TX | Feb 20-21, 2016

The closest I’ll be able to come to a vehicle is a charcoal powered lawn tractor. Not much “sizzle” or “steak” there.

But I’ll bet Martin Payne’s charcoal motorcycle would be a hit. Haven’t heard much from him in the last year or so.

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That’d still be very popular! Just learning about woodgas at all will be most of your WOW factor.

Yeah, if @Martin_Payne could make it with a motorcycle that would be awesome!

I could take the Wood Hawg and a Simple Fire genset. Is there a charge for exhibitors?

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I happen to be in Belton right now, handling some legal matters. I lived in Killeen from 92 to 05.

Hi Richard, that’d be great! There’s no charge for exhibitors, you get free admission to the fair.

Ok then, it’s on my schedule.

Sorry for the delay. Been moving for the last 4 months, it seems like 4 years. The Motofier still lives, out in West Texas at the moment. I think we can make that. Be fun with Richard, and I think I can drag Ray Menke along …

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So I never have heard anything from MEN or anyone on this. Didn’t want to buy a booth, don’t have anything to sell. Don’t know what was meant by “take the motofier” to show there.

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Hi Martin,

No need to buy a booth, as an exhibitor you get in free and they provide space for your motorcycle and whatever else.

I’ll contact Alec and ask him for an update. I’ll let him know you’re interested.

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Same here. I have filled out the Exhibitors app twice and no reply.

Norwood is also going to be at the fair showing their portable band saws.
http://www.norwoodsawmills.com/mother-earth-news-fair-texas-february-20-21

How many of us are going? I don’t know yet if work will let me free.

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Hi Jay,
I noticed part of your screen name is McB74. There is a Seabee Battalion MCB 74, Gulfport, Mississippi. Your name could be Mac “something” or it could be you’re a Seabee. Somehow MCB just jumps out at me now. MCB 7, Davisville, RI, 67-70.
Pepe

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Hi Pepe,

Nope, that’s a mac something. I have an old ham radio I’ve kept but haven’t used it in 15+ years.

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Jason, So far, it seems to be me, Alex Taylor, Richard Craig, and Martin Payne. Here is what I sent to Alec Weaver at MEN: I have built a high-powered outdoor stove that excels at producing charcoal for use in a charcoal gasifier that can power internal
combustion engines. The stove is not something I sell, but is a stove
that anyone can construct from junk or recycled steel. It uses a part
of a discarded water heater tank, some used stove pipe, and a recycled
stainless steel pot. I could display the stove, and show samples of
the fuel, as well as samples of the charcoal it produces. Here is a
photo of the stove (the red cylinder) and some of the charcoal:
http://imgur.com/sELiVfS
The charcoal must then be reduced in size for use as engine grade fuel
in a charcoal gasifier. I have constructed a charcoal grinder by
recycling a child’s bicycle and a computer case.
http://imgur.com/EaMCZcE
This finished and properly sized charcoal can then run Martin’s
Motofier:
http://imgur.com/GHZkA5Y
The stainless steel pot on the rear of the Honda holds the ground
charcoal. When the gasifier is up to temperature, it produces a
composite gas containing carbon monoxide, Hydrogen, and some Methane,
and of course Nitrogen. This is filtered to remove any tar or soot,
and is then mixed with fresh air to create a combustible mixture, and
fed to the Honda. The output power is about 50% of what it would be
on gasoline.
The two of us could set up a display that shows the charcoal maker
(stove), the grinder, and the Motorcycle. We could have samples of
the raw fuel, the starter kindling, and the output charcoal, as well
as the ground engine grade charcoal. Throw in a few black/white
posters and a flow diagram. Martin has a short YouTube video of the
motorcycle running up and down the street near his house. I have made
a slide show (on YouTube) for anyone that would like to build a stove like mine.

The response to us was: We have a reserved
space for you inside, but it will not be sectioned off by any poles or
curtains. Your spaces are in Garth Arena at the Cell County Expo. We
also have Alex Taylor who will be there doing a workshop presentation,
and he will be joining you two at the space with his woodgas mower. Ideally,
we would like all of you to be there the full weekend, Sat 9-7, Sun 9-5
that way you can answer questions from attendees.

At this time, I’m not sure if we bring our stuff up there on Friday and set it up, or how we get the week-end wrist bands, etc. (I need to see if my grinder will fit into the car - may need to modify it somewhat…)

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“I have constructed a charcoal grinder by
recycling a child’s bicycle and a computer case.
http://imgur.com/EaMCZcE

Do you have other info on how you built that? I don’t remember seeing it in your threads.

I basically copied Gary Gilmore’s grinder as shown in this short video:

The heart of this is the 3" steel tube with pieces of railroad spikes welded on in a staggered fashion. I welded the tube to the steel sprocket on the bike, so I can crank it by hand (wearing a respirator for lung protection). Leaving the handlebars on the bike and using the computer case makes it unique. Whereas Gary uses a slanted screen of hardware cloth to remove fines, I use a frame laying flat on a wheelbarrow, and then use a brush to scrub the fines through the hardware cloth. At that time, I can remove nails and any little pieces of brown wood that didn’t get completely converted to charcoal.

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Bump. Anyone else who wants to go, it’s getting down to the wire.

Sure wish I could go but can’t get away this time of the year :confounded:

I will try to make the Mother Earth North Carolina event this spring :blush:

I sent you an email, looking for more info on the logistics.

Well, I guess I’m in. We’ll see some of you there. No February snows this year, the year without winter. Forecast for Belton, TX 75F

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