Some work in the afternoon, … preparing the ground for the concrete slab under the wooden building, otherwise I was taking the excess material to a place nearby, but anyway I fired up in the gasifier and the tractor was idling while I was loading the material, and then the ride steep uphill. 10-15 minutes of idle engine operation, then with all available power, well, a small reset of the gas/air ratio is required, but shortly after that, the setting must be returned to the “factory” setting. …
My son Domn and I already concreted half of the floor slab on Saturday, well, the sand is quite coarse, but I decided to crush the remaining sand more finely, I adjusted the jaws of the “Razinger”, fired up the gasifier and finished the job. I am always surprised by my Fergie because the mill set up like this is very difficult to drive. In the beginning Fergie had big problems, then I tried diesel fuel, but it was not much better and I returned it to wood, well, after some time of operation with slow dosing of sand, Fergie recovered and turned the mill. In the afternoon it was hot to work in the sun (33°C), but we worked at full capacity, there was not much condensation in the funnel, maybe 1 liter, and there was also liquid in the cooler and filter only for a sample, the gasifier does its job well . This today’s attempt to compare the power between diesel fuel and wood gas confirms the theory that the torque or power of the engine is almost the same.
It’s time again for the “service” of the gasifier, 50 operating hours.
This time I also removed the cover to see what the condition is. Everything is in very good condition, …
Now I’m testing the operation on larger pieces of wood, it works well in low loads, but it takes more time to go to full power,…
https://youtu.be/k52hHEtWQZc?si=E7EJp82AxUhvALVZ
30.12. 2024
I got a throttle valve from a Renault Clio 1.2 small car at a local junkyard and installed it on the tractor this afternoon. The diameter of the valve is 35 mm, the previous one was 45 mm, I hope that the low load regulation will be more sensitive and precise.
tone, the argument of the size of the throttle we have had some days ago on my pasquali thread…but thinking about i dont know if it makes a difference… . the motor suction is the same (depending of rpm), so i guess the suction effect on a smaller throttle surface can be stronger as on a larger throttle surface (relatively seen), especially in throttle position more closed…??
concluding so: a bigger throttle is less forced on the bearings, because the suction force is more distributed on the surface.
the opposite on a smaller throttle surface: there the suction force is more concentrated because of the smaller surface, the throttle bearings are more forced…
so , from my sight , it makes no difference…???
but please correct me if i am wrong…
Even driving downhill and uphill, this flap is much more responsive and works better…
Giorgio, the air pressure force on the flap is, assuming that the engine creates an absolute vacuum, 1kg/cm2. If we calculate the area of the flap with a diameter of 45mm, it is 15.9 cm2 and the flap of 35mm - 9.6cm2, well, the force on the flap is 6.3 kg less. At low load, the flap is almost completely closed and in this position the force of the regulating spring and the force of the centrifugal regulator are the smallest, so easy movement and little friction in the shaft are important.
It’s time to change the oil and oil filter,
The gas filter also needs replacing.
My friend Giorgio swears by shiny metals, …
known filter media, sheep wool
I covered the wool on top with a cut out part of the coat, and the mesh prevents the fabric from lifting up.
I inserted a piece of mesh into the sleeve of the jacket and mounted it on the pipe, it should act as a final filter (the other sleeve will be for backup)
I had to test the operation, so I drove to the neighboring village to my friend Boštjan - he wasn’t at home, so I continued my journey to the next friend… the tractor worked for more than 2 hours,… no useful work, just for fun
Tone,
Are you using anything other than wool down in your barrel?
What colour was the oil? Was it 100% woodgas oil?
Steve, this time I only used sheep wool, but I also use hay, coarse sawdust,…
Kristjan, above in the second picture is the oil filter, where traces of oil can be seen, I can say that the oil was a bit dark, but still quite good, you can easily wipe your hands dirty with this oil with a cloth, and they are clean, but if you get them dirty with diesel engine oil, you have to use a strong detergent, and they are still black.
Tone,
Do I see a drain in the bottom of your stainless container? Also, did your steel barrel rust out and did it have any sort of coating inside to inhibit rust?
The old barrel is made of really thin metal without any special protection, but that’s not the biggest problem, but the bottom is constantly moving, the gravity of the filter media pushes it down, and the vacuum pushes it up, so cracks appear in certain parts. This new barrel is much more compact.
Looks like a glass pack resonator we used to make our cars purr like kittens.
fergie and the gasifier are a really masterpiece, so a stainless muffler is the minimum you can do to the tractor… also a genuine leather seat cussin would be nice, and…and …and…
I love yhe old oil heater as an cooler
Now that I have several chippers, I can compare them. The screw chipper requires much more power to drive, but it is much better at grinding branches than a chipper with rotating knives - a “shredder”.
I work with the tractor almost every day, but the working hours are fast, I recently changed the filter, the radiator needs to be cleaned several times, well, today I cleaned the gasifier.
Gasifier parts
contents from the gasifier, approx. 50 liters of charcoal and some torrefied wood
the heart of the gasifier
interior view
Ready for work again
415 working hours
That looks great Tone 
I just ordered stainless steel mesh for the filter im building for my Fergie, it’s really time i start building on it again.
Tone Questions: how do you get a good seal on the gasifier round flange when set it into the gasifier barrel after pulling it out cleaning it up. Is it bolded down some how in side the lower part of the gasifier barrel.
How are the 4 upper hopper nozzles working above the 10 middle firetube nozzles. The lower center 4 hole nozzle that burn up the fine charcoal looks like it is holding up well.
Your Gasifier design is truely amazing and seems to be functioning well for your tractor.
Hello Bob, the firebox - I simply lower the hot zone into the bed, it is attached at the bottom with a check valve, which also ensures sealing to the outside, and at the top the sealing is ensured by ash, which I pour in and press into the groove.
Mr. Wayne has a saying to this effect: “I don’t know what I would do differently if I were to rebuild the gasifier”. However, I would install a rotating grate at the bottom for cleaning the ash.
