What's your motivation to drive on wood?

General Discussion
#41

Motivation?

Grown up in the midst of it. Start-ventilated boat
gasgenerator with a handcranked blower, drove
Ford V85 1940 woodgas truck “the destroyer”
(real truck, not pickup) at pre-school age.

At school age the woodgas trucks and cars where
fast modified back to gasoline. Then the interest
in steam tugs and locomotives took over.

Charcoal gasifier testing on moped in the -50 ies.

The woodgas interest still hovered under the surface,
and surfaced again during the oil crisis -71. Nothing
built, but more of reading.

In the beginnig of the 80-ties the hearth-less
gasification process emerged clear to me.

Soon afterwards both the gaspressure equalizer and
controlled dispenser were born. Much to my surprice,
a few years later I read in GENGAS, that it had already
been done in Sweden during the late 20 ies…
used during the war.

Now these both will come to good use, specially
in the small Micra.

2004 Woodgas installation and startup arrangements
in Germany, Wendland for an International
workshop jamboree. I got there with my
assistant Fredrik Ek three days ahead
of the official opening date. We got filters built,
torch modified and a dispensing gasmixer built.
On the opening day everything was ready in
the nick of time, just as the last participants
arrived.
The big engine roared up on woodgas and the
grand landlady offered celebration champagne,
right chilled, in an unforgettable way!
15 participants from
Austria, Switzerland, Bavaria, Finland.

2007 Audi 80 reworkings started.

2009 The shakerless grate came into beeing.
Used in Canada, Texas and Finland.

2013 Nissan Micra planning started.

Max

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#42

Look Mon, no GAS!

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#43

Max;
Could you define three terms you use? 1-- “hearth less gasifier” ( is this later known as FEMA to us) 2-- “gas pressure equalizer” 3-- “controlled dispenser” and while you are at it say something about the “shaker less great”. (that sounds obvious but how does it differ from any other grate?)TomC

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#44

Truck ran great to the antique power show today … Had to use first gear on the steep hill by the airport but no gasoline … I usually do it in third but there was lots of moisture in the wood … M

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#45

Glad the truck ran well. How was the antique show?

Gary

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#46

Hi, Tom!

  1. FEMA has a firetube – this one has no metallic or ceramic hearth; the process takes place in the midst of charcoal. The lower part of the barrel is initially filled with charcoal and the upper part “adds on” with wood, smaller than eggs. Practical “hot” tests are soon onesmore started.

  2. Means equalizing the arriving
    air pressure to the arriving gas pressure just ahead of the twin flaps for air and gas doing the “dispensing”.
    After correct dispensing (metering) the gases are vividly spiral-mixed together.
    The equalizing is done with a membrane, which samples and balances the arriving pressures just ahead of the dispensing twin flaps.

  3. Seems that the equalizing and dipensing was just explained?
    The tubes in which the twin flaps are, have the same diameter and length.
    And the ganged flaps have the same geometry, keeping same angle in both flaps, from closing to fully open.

  4. The shakerless grate has an effective “blow through” area about the same as the restriction or slightly less. That keeps the slits free from clogging.
    Additionally, the volume of the reduction char is seldom larger than the oxidation volume; better with clean, chemically active char than a lot of ash-imbedded “dead” char!

It is still under “privileged” test run, so I have to discuss about when to end the privilege…

Max

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#47

I am in tree removal business, and while burning waste wood, beholding the enormous amount of energy being released, I decided to research how to power my truck with wood. Eventually led me to the DOW website. And I am now about to plumb my gasifier into the intake of my truck and run it on woodgas.

Burn Baby Burn

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#48

Independence, love of tinkering, reputation as wacky genius, save money.

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#49

Steve I think you summed it up right there
FOOD FOOD FOOD
Being a disabled Dad,with three kids in town. I can’t afford to shop locally. Have to drive 40 min into the city. Gas $$$s
Electricity$$$s etc.
That and I want to live my life
Not just Exist
To live life you have to work
Can’t work for other people any more
( no one wants to hire an over qualified broken rough framer)
So finding woodgas and this society of open minded people has opened an opportunity for Life more abundant. Not nessarily easier
Jesse

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#50

Love to work with metal as it is able to be reworked when the oops happen.
Always have been interested in alternate energy, coordinated with 2 neighbors and installed 500 ft of 6" ADS pipe to develope 12’ of head for a 6" dia waterwheel that ran for 10+ years but only 3/4 hp

Got into the fuel alcohol craze, built several 5 gal/day systems and 1 1000 gal/day using old tires for fuel,
But still not economically against the 40.70 gas then
Built a MEN gasifier on a 1965 GMC truck and put on about 1000 miles but after 3rd time of tar stuck valves, bent pushrods parked it

Built a small gasifier and played with 5 to 10 hp systems similar to stuff on you tube… Then found Wayne Kieth and Chris system about a year ago, YES!
I bought a 1995 F250 with a 460 CI distributor engine ,built a similar system, and have about 500 miles now… Learning every day
It is fun, challenging, most gear heads are fascinated so I regularly get to demo and turn them on to the DOW site.
And finally the folks on this site are the best! Thank you

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#51

I would LOVE to drive on wood really I would if I could , but living half way up a mountain makes things a little more difficult for me , sure getting to the shops would be a breeze , but getting back up well not so sure I could annoy the rest of the road users behind me , its bad enough following a diesel ute , truck , bus going up the mountain here at 40 kph flat out ,so a gasifier on my truck will not work unless I could duel fuel it ,but then there are the Australian road registration /insurance rules that I could only imagine would do everything in there powers to stop me using burning wood to drive on the road’s as they would be scared I was going to start a bush fire .
And so instead I hide away in my little clearing surrounded by gum tree’s on the edge of a state forest and everyone that lives close by thinks I am on a one man mission to live on free electricity by running my small engines every time the sun don’t shine , but to be honest I just love being able to make use of fuel that will not only heat my house but also lights up my house ,power tools tv , fridge and on and on and oh yeah it makes me smile because after a life time of relying on power company’s its so nice to be able to do something for yourself that you enjoy .
Charcoal life style suits me and Thanks to everyone that has given me idea’s and help along the way .
Dave

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#52

Sure right about wood-for-food making JessieH.

Got a new Yamaha EF2800i just two days ago. Three months saving up for this alternatives-fuel possibilities inverter-generator. Off-the-shelf for propane and methane conversions.
Right now outside still loads/rpm varying breaking it in on gasoline.
Warmed up enough here now to no longer need supplementary greenhouse heating from the engine gen-inverter heats.
Good 13 hours of daylight now too.
This will end up electrical generating for food freezers/refrigerators; and shed-off heat-drying cubbied up under a tarped up wood-pile for the next 2 1/2 months.
Will not be wood drying weather here Cascade mountains PNW until after ~early July.
Woodgas fueled this set will be able to make at least 1500 watts electrical for 8 hours on 20 pounds of wood chunks.

I no longer trust or hold valid anybody “woodgasing” who are not willing put it to use in their own daily lives.
You have daily power needs too Jessie.
As a former daily wood-smith you can do this wood-for power stuff. You know the wood, real.

Best Regards (commercial-work broken down too; early retired master auto tech)
Steve Unruh

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#53

Hey Steve, thanks for the encouraging
words. Its my daily energy needs that
Motivated me to start looking into alt. energy. Last year I tried everything I could think of to make a bio digester make methane. Didn’t work Mi. doen’t get hot enough, long enough. Can’t justify the cost of Solar. So I looked and studied and found woodgas. This really intreiged me.
Still could not justify the cost to start up.
The pay off was to far down the road.
Now I’m not one for instant Gratitude, but
the return has to be realistic. I have to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Then I found that vid by Steve Abbadess the no weld gasifier. Suddenly there’s a lite on. I can make this work!!!
So now I’ moving from wood to charcoal
gasification. It is easier and the start up is more cost effective. I will post more later .

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#54

Sawdust in your blood makes a fella itchy and I like to monkey around a bit. This stuff helps me feel like I’m more a part of the world and less a part of the blow hard matrix… :wink:

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#55

Morning Jeff,
Have had sawdust in my blood, hair eyes and coffee for more yrs than I want to think about. I married a younger woman when I was 35 as I got into my mid fourties she started hacking on me about fiber in my diet. I was framing houses at the time. 10-16 hrs. a day. I did not want to argue with her I just went out to my truck and reteived that days coffee cup and handed it to her.
I asked her to slowly pour the last little bit of coffee out and look in the cup. we never talked fiber again.
I have probbubly digested enough wood to make at least a few good sized boards ha ha ha! yummm!

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#56

I know what you mean about feeling useful, or productive. at 57 and being diabled ( 4 heart attacks 13 heart surgeries, still have one artey that is about 60% blocked, broken back 5 xs mutiple herniated discs in lower back) the list goes on.
I held 15,000 pounds of hydrolic weight for 5 seconds to save a mans life. it cost me a yr. of work. that mans life was worth the pain that I live with every day.
that was many yrs. ago when I was alot younger and had more piss and vinagir. so yea I know what its like to feel useful Again
Jesse

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#57

I remember sitting in the gas lines in LA in the 70.s when we had the oil embargo, reading Mother Earth— how they ran a Chev 6 on wood. In the year 2000 I got a computer and looked up woodgas. There were two articles on the internet about it. I didn’t like the one from Australia because he has a water scrubber and it seemed complicated. The other was the Fema. So I built a Fema and gummed up several squirrel cage blowers with tar. Some where along there I believe Sperninoff (?) started Yahoo Woodgas Group. Things started taking off from there. Some knowledgeable people who had been working on this chimed in and some Europeans chimed in and deciphered some of the writings that were in languages other than English. All of that really started the ball rolling. Mike La Rossa came up on his way to the first Woodgas Get Together in Calumet, Mi. Then I went to The Second Gas Get Together in Goodyear Michigan and met more interesting people. I hears about Mr. Wayne driving up to Milwaukee on wood and how he squirreled away wood on the way up so he had wood for the trip home. Mike and Mr Wayne came out with a CD of how Mr. W 's gasifier was built. I got a little confused as they talked about woodgas but Mike said Mr. W made the trip on charcoal. Any way all this time I kept working on a gasifier vehicle. Many revisions and two engine tear downs due to tar and broken push rods. By this time From Mr. W’s work it became obvious that a gasifier on the back end of a S10 Blazer wasn’t a good idea. I bought a 1/2 T Chev truck with the same engine ( V6 ) that the blazer had so all my work up to that point was not wasted. I had two gasifiers sitting on the floor-- one was my version of a GEK, the other was my version of a LaRotor. For several days I played with the two and flare them time and again. Finally I decided on the LaRotor. Put that in the truck. I got the gasifier part working but I continued to work with the hopper. Made an attempt at a cyclone which I still use but it sure ain’t pretty. I saw Mr. W cooling rails although he really confused me on the flow he had shown in the video. But in flaring I realized that was a necessary part of a unit. I stole his idea of a hay filter. I Read where the Naked Mechanic in Australia was building a counter flow heat exchanger to cool the gas and heat the air. I have spent many hours trying to make that work. It is a serpentine of 3 inch pipe for hot gas with a 4 inch pipe surrounding the 3 in. carry air for the gasifier.
The utopia moment was when I arrived a Argos, all on wood at 2;00 in the morning. ( I know it was 2;00 because I stopped at the only place that had lights on and it was the bar giving the “last call”. They directed me to the Faiirgrounds.
My Bucket List is complete. I lived in Calif., I was involve in Indy racing, I moved from the city to a farm, and I can drive on wood. Life is good.TomC

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#58

OK, Tom sounds like it time to make a new buchet list us older corkers( me especially need things to keep us going) I grew up with my grandfather, ( dad died in Feb.'70) every year when he came home
he had a new list of things that he would tryto complete by Nov.15… Including a new list for when he went South for the winter. when I asked him why, he told me this:
when a working man retires he has little to do to occupy his time. so he must create things to do and see or get sick and die from lack of activity.
SO,sit down soon and make another list. we want you to be around a lot longer.
I’m 57 have been fighting heart desease for 20+ yrs. multiple back injuries, did everything (almost) that the Drs. told me to. took all there drugs that were prescribed. to make it short I lost my drive because of health reasons. I just existed.
last yr. I threw all the meds away( There has got to be a better wayto fight illness than modern drugs) including the insulin that I was told that I had to take or I would die. well its 16 months later I’m still alive I lost 150+ pounds( modern meds made me morbidly obese)
I’m still over 250 but still shrinking. Now that I can move without gasping for air I am making a daily list, that helps complete my long term list.
I am a pyromaniac!! have been my whole life. I love fire Period!! this woodgas is going to help me complete one item on my list. (going to see my daghter at her house) that’s num. 1 on my list
sorry didn’t mean to rant or preach
Jesse

ps. I’m not saying what I did with the meds is right for everyone but it worked for me.

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#59

Motivation…
I hooked my dad’s car up to an anthracite stove when i was 12 Yrs old… amazed everybody, made my granddad smile from ear to ear… :grin:
The car was an fiat 600d, small engine and i made it run untill the stove collapsed…

Since then i work and study… That was 42 Yrs ago…

Who say’s it can’t be done ???

Once bitten… always hooked

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#60

Correction
I had meant to say that trowing the meds away worked for me. But maybe
Not for every one
Jesse

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