Well . . . then you will have limited ability to make all-of-this wonder-fuel charcoal.
The charcoals made with with cedar, fir and hemlock are super fragile. Crumbles to dust with handling.
The commercial folks use these to make that char-dust then with binders make commercial charcoal briquets. More process steps. And those gasify completely different from natural porous wood charcoal.
Want to go charcoal; focus on the red alder.
These Charcoal’tiers guys are all in hardwoods areas! Their knowledge is valid for them. Their areas.
I’ve only ever been able to some charcoal hard enough to be storable, handleably, out fir, hemlock, spruce knotwoods sections. Large machine torn out roots branch sections. 100 year growth very tight grain limb wood.
Made a lot of char dust with clear grain conifer wood sections. And I do not bio-char intentionally.
All raw wood gasifer intentionally do make tars in their upper system. Then those tars converted in mid-system, lower mid-system with the in-place made charcoal/Heats/and controlled flows-turbulence into motor grade fuel gasses.
Tars passed thru to the engine WILL ALWAYS be an Operator, operational problem.
DIY for your own use, become that better Operator.
This is the DOW creed.
Do not be put off by wood fuel prepping. Look up the many on-DOW pictured DIY chunks makers.
You mentioned Dutch John. He did not charcoal. Not in his wood fired cooking stove. Not in his self-made all SS downdraft heating stove. Not in any of his FOUR engine powering projects. 1 1/2 horsepower to ~100 horsepower.
Want easy? Buy propane.
Want a step into solid wood fuels? Buy pellets.
Want challenging? Do raw wood gas.
Read carefully KristijanL’s proposed Double Flute Downdraft gasifer topic. Watch Don Mannes build up powering results.
Not based on speculation. Based on their, done-both, loaded using experiences.
And both doing this on overhead cam engines to boot.
Regards
Steve Unruh