Hello everyone, I was just wondering how big of a gasifier I would need to build for a 392 international harvester 1 ton pick up. I’m not really sure if it would be a good truck to use for wood gas but i want to try. It has a 10:1 compression rato and V-392
Brake H.P. (Max) @ RPM 235.6 @ 4000
Brake H.P. (Net) @ RPM 191 @ 3600
Torque (Max) Lb. Ft. @ RPM 356.5 @ 2800
Torque (Net) Lb. Ft. @ RPM 307 @ 2400
Or close to that. I wasn’t sure where to post this in topics. I wanted to know the dimensions of a wood gasifier based on its specs if anyone can help.(Edit I was wrong about the compression ratio it has 8:1 not 10:1)
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I read a lot about Ron Lemler’s Ford truck’s MEN gasifier and was just wondering if I could do something similar in size. He gave specs for his “300CID inline 6”.
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Welcome Gregory!
I would say any engine with 10/1 compression is a good candidate for a woodgas truck! Lots of room in those old harvesters. Depending on gasifier design size can range widely. You can make a wk design fit in a 2.5x5’ area pretty easily, just front sectiin of the bed. I crammed one in my toyota mini truck
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I actually welded a platform that fits in the back of the truck for the gasifier to sit on. I was hoping to make a easy to dismantle unit so i can clean it. I was thinking about making it clip together with toggle latch camps or something like that. Im not sure how big the diameter of the reduction and air inlets need to be. Id like to try a heat exchanger like wk gasifier but im not sure how much it helps vs a HOT filter or just a cyclone,. Ill still need cooling rails and a baffled moisture catch, and probably a hay filter at the end. I know there are a few different type filters that also might work.
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It might also be 9.5:1 im not sure. Ive watched a few of your videos before and liked the clutch cable air mixture on the small truck with the v8 i think. Your videos gave me a lot of ideas. I wanted to go wood cutting with it and get appropriately sized branches and make a chunker to keep refueling it. I need a unit that can go up hills and get to high way speed. I can creep up the mountains here at 15-30mph, once im up high ill just go 5mph maybe. Another conundrum is wether i should make charcoal and just do a charcoal gasifier or one that’s a 50/50 wood char hybrid. It would be cool if I could put shredded plastic in with to. It’s dry in California so I think most of the dead wood here is pretty dry. I don’t have any oil drums but I do have a few hot water heater tanks though I think the biggest is only 16in in diameter vs the 22-24in oil drums.
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HELLO GREGORY WELCOME TO DOW–I think a wayne keith gasifier from the book-have wood will travel- would work just fine- since his v10 ram runs off that design- i think he made his burn tube longer on the v10 than on the dakota 318 trucks. NICE project truck-you might be able to sell that one for more money- and buy a dakota 93 -96 model years-worked the best over all so far.Though that motor should be enough power, it would likely be slower orr the line than dakotas-but still have enough power around the 55 too 60 mph range-my best gess,dont know if that truck has been wood gassed yet here at DOW-drive on wood.
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Welcome Gregory.
A lot depends on your fabrication skills. Any gasifier capable of fueling a truck engine that size will require a fair amount of time and labor. IMO it’s better to follow a design, like the WK that has been proven many times to do the job. There are other designs that would work, but none with the documentation of the WK, between the original book and all the subsequent builds detailed on the site. That will be a nice build when you get it done.
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Welcome to the site Gregory, lots and lots of information here on the site (plus all the nice people of course). Either in the library or on the forum itself, this place is riddled with gems and nuggets (the non-chicken variety) 
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Welcome Gregory!!
I live near Fort Wayne, Indiana where that very sturdy truck (or parts of it) may have been built.
Yes, I would use a WK gasifier. You could build it according to the Dakota 5.2L dimensions,and make the firetube a bit longer. The gasifier plans book and access to premium sections of this website are more than worth the cost.
One of the reasons WK gasifiers are built partially below the bed floor is because they are tall. Built above the bed they stick up into the wind quite a bit, not aerodynamic or particularly attractive. A lot of the WK system is built under the truck to get piping out of the way, also for cleaner, under truck ash and condensate dumping.
I would assume this truck has a carburetor. A separate wood-gas throttle built into a riser under the stock gasoline carburetor will allow you to run in hybrid mode, adding a little gasoline for hill climbs and acceleration. 
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It’s got a V8 6.4l 392 but they say it can run it based on the v10 5.2l gasifier. I think I’m capable of building it I have 3 boiler tanks and 1 large propane tank and a smaller tank plus a lot of other metal. I’ve been reading all sorts of threads on here for at least a year or more, Ive watched almost every video on YouTube about gasifiers even in other languages. I wanted to make sure I knew how they worked and if it seemed worth the start up time and going and getting the wood, but from what I read I figured I probably could do it. I know I need to avoid pine even though it’s plentiful up in the mountains, I think I can get oak and maybe other longer burning woods. I thought about making a briquette making machine so I can grind up charcoal or wood shavings to make the right sized fuel. I understand they are sensitive about the size chunks of wood they burn. I figure the truck isn’t aerodynamic to begin with so I could just have a big gasifier sticking up and it wouldn’t make a difference lol. Especially if I put the cooling rails in the way or something. I remember I saw one gasifier on YouTube powering a Ford and it had a separate firebox from another country. I was just wondering what might work or not.
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Yes this one.
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For a big engine, I really would suggest the Wayne Keith gasifier. If you buy the book you also get some included premium membership so you can read into the V10 builds.
The Dodge v10 is an 8L by the way. The 5.2 is the 318 Magnum V8.
The only other mobile gasifier system for a larger engine would be the Mother Earth News gasifier. You can still buy the plans to that today.
If you can’t find any open top steel 55 gallon drums then maybe the MEN design is easier for you, but you’ll need more than just the 16" tanks.
I have both plans as well as some others, I like to collect physical copies as often as possible.
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Hi Gregory, and welcome to the forum.
Please avoid briquettes, gives almost nothing but trouble-they tend to fall apart to “mush” clogging the gasifier, or if treated with some binder, the binder/glue itself gives trouble. Also needs a lot of energy to make/press briquettes.
This has been tested alot, always seems promising, but in the end dont work, or to expensive.
Go with wood instead, and you could absolutely mix in some pine, i use up to 40% pine in my gasifier, depending on whats available.
Charcoal, ofcourse, but needs big amounts for that engine.
I think the WK gasifier would be your best option.
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It’s good that you have done the preliminary research and have an idea about what’s involved Gregory. You will have read that building a gas maker is just a part of the process and learning the ins and outs of running and maintaining it are just as important. That’s why I suggested building the WK. Having people who are knowledgeable in running a wood gas truck is the biggest benefit a wood gasser can have. 55 gallon barrels are easy to come by but the 12 inch fire tube can be a little had to come up with. As far as the hopper extending above the cab. It’s a big square faced truck. A little more wind resistance is pretty immaterial, IMO.
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Figured as much I need something bigger around. I didn’t v10 was 8l. I’ll have to buy the book sooner or later.
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Thanks! A 40% pine mix would be awesome. I’m not sure what type is most prevalent around here but I’ll look it up. I didn’t know anyone else tried briquettes before, good to know.
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I need to to go 60-80 miles to and from the mountains how many pounds of wood do you think it would take to get me there and back. I’m just wondering. I really only need about 40mph for most of it, but it goes up and down hills.
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With an engine that big, and with a truck that big, I’d make a conservative estimate of 2lbs per mile, but it could be as efficient as 1lb per mile.
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I have 2 16in water heaters and 1 14in, and a 14.5in propain tank. Also I have a small propane tank that is 12in that I thought I could use as the fire tube. Also that was the platform I welded a while ago in front of them.
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I think you’ll definitely want to try to hunt down more materials. Without giving away details, for either the MEN or the Wayne Keith gasifier you don’t have quite the right sized tanks.
The WK uses some really thick walled material for the hearth. It’s a real tank of a unit but that’s what makes it so good.
For the MEN you’d need to hunt down some more water tanks in a larger diameter. That’s if you 100% go by their instructions.
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