Good morning to all my woodgaser friends. I turned 71 last December as I sit here and have realized if I ever want to get to my dream of driving on woodgas I need to change my focus. I had a working gasifier in about 2007 or 2008 had an old Bolens mower with a woodgas generator I built running a Wisconsin 10hp engine…pictures are on the site somewhere…this was back way before Drive on wood was thought of. I was a member of the yahoo woodgas group and Mike Larosa and I had several phone calls as well as Wayne Keith and I spoke a couple times on the phone. I have started several gasifiers and have components around the shop as reminders. As with each start life got in the way and plans changed. I rejoined the group a few years ago and thought this will be the year… Well wife and I have been taking care of her mother for the last 14 years…and keeping up with 2 houses…plus having a full time bushiness to pay the bills… leaves little free time and personal projects get put on hold. Mother in law started going down hill about 2 years ago… while the wife and I were her hospice care givers. Before she passed she made the wife promise to take some of her inheritance and get herself a New kitchen…so for the last 9 months the wife got free labor and a brand new kitchen and Bathroom and living room…( I have to finish up 2 bedrooms and entire house has been remodeled } I am happy for her as this is both of our second marriages and she has waited 40 years to finally get something nice in her life…after raising 2 kids alone…I still have 2 houses to keep up…but have cut way back on my shop work…to all the premium members I have a fire tube design laying around that I created 10 years ago that Wayne finally implemented into his V10 upgrade.my design is quite different but uses the same principle…But I never used it … picture in the archives. I have already started and am about 2/3’s done with an Edmundo Ramos design… I live in central Ohio, and not to shy away from being a purist and using raw wood…have personally decided to keep form condensation freezing in winter…and wet wood causing tar and tar causing engine issues… I am also on the woodgas facebook groups and have been following Matt Ryder’s advice about charcoal so I have gone to the DARK side and am going to a modified simple fire updraft charcoal gasifier. 1 of 2 the first is going on my modified Kalamzoo speed truck welding cart and mini wrecker with generator (1984) for me to get comfortable to operate. #2 will be going on my Explorer Sport Trac pickup…now has the 4.0 v6 but I have a 5.0 engine and transmission I can swap out anytime…When I get back to the shop this week will upload pictures…The design I am using can be found on driveonwaste.com Plans are free. with life flying by so quickly… if you don’t take time to follow your dreams and make them goals…they will always remain…just dreams
I love to see that brazing where the gas temperatures have fallen enough to support it.
Mike LeRosa’s experiences says the steel metals with rust and corrode away leaving the brass filler not so much effected.
Brazing causes much less heat distortion gapping, pushing warping; versus steel fillers welding.
Brazing does not leave nearly as much metal stresses; later a cracking problem.
Yeah. Yours past ten years story just too familiar to the Wife and I. We too parents supported in place to be able to live-out then die at their own home.
Then after; later the dust settles we were able to shake it off and house/home relocate and room by room remodeling for out tastes; and aging-in-place adaptation.
Big, big relief dropping back to just a single house to have to maintain and manage I’ll tell you.
Yeah that aging stuff does creep up on a fellow, alright. I’m 73 now.
My heavy involved woodgasing days were pre-DOW too. 2007-2012/13.
On the raw wood versus charcoal; for some indeed, it is about purity.
But for most others of us, we are stuck with mostly only poor charcoal making conifer trees. Regardless of what others have experienced; posted up; and then gets parroted repeated: It IS Possible To Woodgas Engines Tars Safe!! An operators challenge alright. Separates the wannabes light-weight low-hours users from the true serious I-Will-Become-An Operator. Taking 500-1000 operating hours.
And out here in the three Left-Coast Eco-green-freek’n states . . . the heavily pushed use-no-trees. Use no more carbons fuels at all. Children are taught now to report you making ANY smokes. Because after all, you are an evil, selfish, greedy, planet killer.
Wood-for-power users out here . . . we be the 21st century witches to be reviled.
Anyhow do what is best for you where you live, and with your available life-time/energy left.
J.O. father’s your-age measure described on the Winter 2024 topic. Put as much, done-it; did-it as possible to the left of the thumb’s marked, present. No telling how much future to the right of the thumb you will be able to squeeze into; then moved to the left of the thumb measure.
Hi DennisP.
in our old built in 1986, bought by us in 2022 fixer-upper house the first and only room so far totally remodeled. The main floor bathroom. My Wife is quite proud of this room. “Our” layout compromises. My insistence for in near future usability for one of us in a wheelchair drove up the costs at least $4,000. HER choices of colors; finishes, and decorations:
“If walls could talk”. Lots of talkin’ pealing back the layers of others-did; once-was, to get down to the studs for the new shower enclosure install.
The kitchen will next. Cabinet drawer slides. are all worn out. The doors adjusted to max and still hanging wonky, uneven. Been decades cleaned, and cleaned, of the fake wood to the point of white streaking. The floor with at least 3 layers of flooring one-atop-the-other has lost the needed under base cabinets edges toe kick space. My shoed feet get toed stuck. Sucks.
Looking forward to your now gasification works.
Regards
Steve Unruh
