Good to hear that ya’ll had a good year like us. We have been blessed this summer with good rains. We have more grass right now then in a long time. I am ready to get back in the hay fields as soon as we have another window to do so. We still have a lot to get cut and bailed. Are you finished now with all your hay? How did your cows do at the sale? Good I hope. I hope the price stays up for our sake. (the farmer) that is.
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Good Morning Sheldon,
I cut hay all day yesterday and if the weather holds and no big break downs should finish up in about a week.
I don’t know how the cows did, I didn’t have time to go get the check but they should mail it today. Hope I didn’t lose too much.
You may have been one of the few that understood what I meant about wide mouth cows. ( old )
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Yes Wayne we have some of those wide mouth cows here also. The problem is my wife can’t seem to sell any of her old girls. She has got way to fond of some of them. That’s not always a good thang on a cow calf operation. But she takes good care of all of them and they through us a good calf so far. I will start cutting tomorrow and cut for a few days and hope to get it all up. Do you over seed in the winter? I am planning to start work on a farm truck this winter. It is about a 1971 ford pump truck with a 536ci motor in it.I hope to wood gas it and make it a flat bed.
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I put about 75 miles on the ram today but worked it all day long and dark caught me with no lights on the trailer… I put 12-15 sack of wood through it. A lot of the driving was through hay fields, pasture and my dirt road. Hope to finish with hay by mid week.
Picture below are son loading hay and fueling the truck.
Sheldon,
I got my check yesterday for the three old cows and I think they did well, two fat ones brought over a thousand each and a skinny one not as much.
BBB
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That sounds like a good day at the sale Wayne. I cut hay most of the weekend. Hope to get it up this week.Nice and cool here this morning.
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I’m driving every day but it has been a while since I have posted a driving video.
We will be driving about 150 miles today.
Wishing all a good Thanksgiving.
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Good Thanksgiving to you too Wayne and thanks for taking us along on your joy ride!
Don M
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Hey there Wayne, I spent this early morning at sunrise checking out a billboard erection company 20 miles away for the elusive 12 inch tube. No luck.
I noticed that most of this last video had near idle operation, which is really encouraging. But, if you had the easy to ignite reuse char in the unit, it would make sense. What if you had the common ratio of minimum char at the throat and mostly uncharred wood for the rest, could you give the same video ride?
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Good Morning there Mr. Drost as in Frost,
The first video on this thread shows a 25 min idle. This was done with standard dry fuel and had no char recycled back through it. I brought the gasifier up to near normal operating temps before asking it to idle so long.
I think by recycling some of the char the truck will perform at near idle operation without bringing the operating temperature up first and still make very clean gas…
Hey Doug,
One of the reasons I had trouble pronouncing your name was I bought a DEUTZ log skidder and it took me a while to correctly pronounce it. When I did get it in my brain it got confused with Drost.
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Back at ya Wayne, I recently bought my Ma’s house which has 5 stall worth of garage. So my wife said I should start parking inside with my 30 year old car. I reminded her that I never parked inside in my life and can’t get used to it since I would later be flaring off before work. Until I figure out the homebound trip each day, I’ll at least be cutting my gasoline cost in half while I scheme.
I don’t blame you for messing up my name as I live in a Dutch settled area, and we can spot foreigners by whether they get the name right. You’ve been cleansed. Now to business. You’ve talked about performance differences between the V-10 and the Dakota. Horsepower to weight ratio is certainly a factor. But since you adjust the throat height and size, and you highway cruize the Dakota mainly, could you idle excessively with it as in the recent video?
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Morning Doug,
Yes the dakotas will set and idle as the v-10. The gasifier throat size in relation to the motor size is the same. Weight vs. motor size is close.
Moving around in the woods and farm at very slow speed going from steep down grades to steep upgrades the dakota can’t compete because of the very low range gearing on the v-10 four wheel drive.
The big difference between the dakotas and the ¾ ton Ram is frontal area. The wind drag on the ram may be twice that of the dakota. In the speed range of 70-90 mph the dakota will run off and leave the V-10.
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Hi Wayne
What is the approximate ratio of the weight of your vehicle to the cubic inches (or liters) of the engine? lbs/c.i
are we looking at somewhere around 12/1?
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Hello Dustin,
The V-10 Ram weighs about 7500 pounds, the motor is 488 ci 15/1
The dakota weighs about 4200 pounds, the motor is 318 13/1
The trucks are running good and have put a lot of miles down in the last week. Thursday the family and I put a hundred on the 93 dakota, Friday put a lot on the V-10 and just shut the 92 off. We put about 75 on it.
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Hello Doug Drost,
You had questions about the dakota so I made you a video this morning of a 25 min idle ending in a 0-60 acceleration.
Please don’t hold your breath waiting, YouTube says it will take 12 hours to upload.
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Here ya go Doug,
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Hi ya Wayne, you certainly have a turndown ratio going, so you really have no need to add gasoline until passing a bunch of cars. I think your design is one of the thickest char pile going, which is why it’s less finicky. Your video should be rated G, but you might want to liven it up with a sasquatch running through the woods while taking a shot at it. Good job, Wayne.
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I was able to catch and load a crazy cow today. She thinks she can escape anything, but she was too big to go through the top of the trailer.
I wonder if being crazy will affect the taste of the BigMack when she hits McDonalds.
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We were doing farm chores this morning, letting the youngon drive.
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Wayne,
Looks like he’s doing a fine job! I remember my first drive with the old man,… I was serious as a heart attack but I swear he nearly had one. Looks and sounds like you were both pretty comfortable here on this trip. Is the boy going to inherit one of the Dakotas for his first ride or does he have to build it himself? I had to assemble the engine on my first ride (it didn’t come with one). That was a great time for me, there’s something special about building that first truck with you father.
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Good Morning Henry,
Yes I think he did well, he has only had the permit a few days now and the first time on the highway except for a few drives very close to home.
Even with seasoned drivers when you add the extra attention that wood gas will demand makes them very nerves for a while.
I would be a little nerves with the son having one of the Dakotas. Kids will be Kids; I was one once and only alive by the grace of God.
The Dakota will go fast on wood and real fast with only a flip of a switch. (Gasoline)
I have picked a truck I think will fit his life style( he loves hunting and fishing ) , full size 94 Ram, 318,4x4, full size bed, plane Jane. 95 % of his driving will be in a 15 mile radius of home (driving to school, town, feed store, feeding cattle). The ram will use a lot more wood than the Dakotas. (We have a lot of wood)
I will be adding a gooseneck hitch in the bed so he can help with pulling trailers and also he can us it to pick up extra $, selling fire wood, odd job, ect.
It would be a back up for my v-10 if for any reason the v-10 was side lined.
When he is a little older and needs to make longer trips I’m sure I would loan him a Dakota.
Note. Getting to the distributer on the Ram will be a pain. I’m sure Terry L will testify to that.
BBB
PS
When we where at the feed store there were a dozen farmers within several feet of the truck and none had a clue we where DOW, not even the guy that help load. ( no one ask , I didn’t tell)
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