A lot of great pictures have gone up in the Premium area of some trucks that are nearly done. This is really exciting! I want to invite our builders to post a little bit about their trucks, and some pictures here on the public forum. If you want to do more than one posts worth, why not start a project thread in the public area (or update it if you already have one). On this thread, try to sum up your project in ONE POST with a few pics.
Specifically calling on John Cleveland, Terry Lavictoire, Peter Coronis, Richard Cooper, John Stout, Carl Zinn, Dustin Moore, and anyone else that’s nearly there (don’t be offended if I missed your name). Show everyone what you’ve been up to!
I had read about woodgas before this website came out but never done anything with it. I saw Wayne in Mother Earth News and decided to give it a try. I joined drive on wood with a lifetime membership and now alomst have a truck ready to run on wood by following the videos on the premium side of the website. I have a 98 Dakota 4X4 short bed, V8, now with a gasifier in the bed. It takes alot of time to get to this point in the build but the payoff will be worth-it. The last picture is the first test flare.
I started my build this spring. I purchased a 1980 F-150 flare side truck with a 351 in it. I also purchased a welder and a plasma cutter. I had never done much welding. After several trips to the scrap, yard I started the project and quickly became an ad,equate (not great) welder. It is now late August and my truck is nearly complete. I’ve got everything assembled and plumbed except for the final hook up under the hood. That will be coming very soon. I’ve run several hoppers full of wood through the unit and have made good gas which I was a,ble to flare out of the top of the cooling rack. I am so happy to have found this site and give a big tip of the hat to Wayne and Chris for making it happen. For anybody who is wondering “can I do this” I would say if I can do it you can do it. Th,e videos and information in the members section of this site is easy to follow and very thorough. Below are a few pictures of my truck., Edit: driven over 100 miles on wood. Great results.
Hello,
I first saw Woodgas in an early 80’ edition of Mother Earth News… Many moons ago. Wood was the missing part of the equation, nothing to run a gasifier on. Over the years I’ve spent considerable time and resources messing with alternative energy. Fast forward to 2009 a friend of mine was looking to build a generator using a steam engine I started researching Steam and found it to complex for me to do safely, not to mention the extra energy conversion. I remembered Woodgas and started researching it and started experimenting.
The Dodge is the 6th Gasser to date, including a FEMA tar maker that I “Imbertized” to run on pellets it was set up to charging batteries with a 8hp Briggs it worked very well, learned alot from it.
Built a LaRosafier as well, it was to small for the engine had to use and the truck wasn’t road worthy… So it didn’t get the time it deserved, it made very clean gas.
Next was the Red Neck Swiss Army Knife… It’s 69 Ford 120 Garden Tractor. Has it’s own saw, snow blower, blade, generator. Well over 200 hours riding that thing a lotta fun there.
Next was a couple prototype versions of Stephen Abbadess’s Victoria. They have since refined it and are offering them for sale.
Finally the Dodge… I traded a 6.2 Chevy Diesel for it about three years ago, with the intention of Doing a Wayne Keith to it… Been a long time coming, I was really happy when he decided to write the book and videos. VERY GOOD STUFF!!
Wayne has a natural teaching ability that make the videos a real treat. I wish I lived in a warmer climate, would have been done months ago.
I’m adapting his design to what I think will be functional in a harsh winter environment. Ya might notice some of the changes from the pics below. There are many detailed pics in the Premium Section.
Thanks for all the help!
All the best
TerryL
HWWT (have wood will travel)
Ps the aluminum tank reminds of what happens when water shifts to a solid
I purchased an 1985 S10 with a 350 ci. engine specifically for this wood gas project. Although i have yet to see a wood gas vehicle run, i am extremely confident in the abilities of the experts on site to guide me through the gasification build. ( confident enough to cut off the back of the truck! )
I have chosen to enter the unknown area of performance wood gas. So like any good hot rodder would do, i put the largest possible gasfier in the smallest truck that i could find!! This is the reason for the extreme modifications.
The experts say that one needs 20,000 miles of WG driving experience to be a proficient wood gas operator — i will be a long time learning, as my mileage will be put down 1/4 mile at a time!! -----Just kidding, this is a street driver.
All of the details concerning this build can be found in the builders section, hope to see you there!!
Drove the truck 20 miles today on woodgas I could only get up to 45 but that is a great place to start learning the system. There is alot of different things that can cause different reactions and alot of do’s and don’ts that can only be learned by time and experience, so jump in and give it a try.
Greetings, greetings. I’ve been wood gassing for about three years now. I’ve been retired most of that time and two of my sons have been helping. So there’s been a lot of woodgassing going on. We’ve built and re-built 8 or 10 systems, maybe more. We’ve tried FEMA and all sorts of Imberts with all sorts of coolers, heat exchangers, filters, cyclones, hoppers, blowers, suckers, shakers, under the floor, over the roof, thru the fender, etc., etc. We haven’t tried everything, but we’ve been busy.
But getting to the point, the Hottest Thing I’ve tried yet is what’s inside that Wayne Kieth gasifier.
Yesterday, The Woodgasser’s Wife and I went on a Sunday drive through the countryside out here in western Minnesota. We drove the Prehistoric van, a 1979 3/4 ton Ford with a 351. And we were burning wood, a mix of ash, elm, cottonwood, maple, box elder, and willow. It’s not a new truck, it’s not light, and it’s not tight.
But we were doing 65 going with the wind and 55 heading into it. We were smiling all the way, riding guilt free as if fuel grew on trees.
Thanks Wayne and Chris and others for the expert and generous help along the way.
Here are some pictures showing that it’s how shiny the truck is, but rather what’s inside that counts. These pics also show that you can woodgas even if you’re not a great welder. John
This is the place wood and steel come together in perfect harmony, The Gasifier! Yes, there’s a lot to learn, but you can learn it from this site. Yes, there’s a lot to build, but you can build it from common recycled materials. (Wire welder recommended) Yes, there are a lot of new faces from all over the world, but they’re all friendly and they will help you! We are a “family” and this is how we roll, on wood! After going to the Indiana meet in May, I knew wood gas was for real, and in my future. I started in July and am not as fast as others, but getting there, none the less. Burner is done, hopper is done, heat exchanger is done, cooling rack is done, that leaves condensate tanks, plumbing, & electrical. Another month should see it all come together. I plan to setup a genset to run off this trucks gasifier this winter. Alternative, renewable, energy! This is in my future, and it could be in yours too. Join www.driveonwood.com
HEY CARL,JOHN, RICHARD, PETER AND ALL YOU GASSER GUYS YOUR PROJECT,S ARE LOOKING GREAT, IT IS GOOD TO SEE THEM COMMING TOGETHER, DAVID -O PS. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO WORK ON MY GASSIFIER TRUCK IN OVER A WEEK, LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE TWO OR THREE WEEKS MORE BEFORE I CAN GET BACK AT IT AGAIN . SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER IS TWO OF OUR BUISSEST MONTHS IN THE DUMPSTER BUISNESS, EVERYONE IS TRYING TO GET-R-DONE BEFORE BAD WINTER WEATHER, BUT I WILL KEEP IN TOUCH WATCHING ALL YOUR PROJECTS ON DRIVE ON WOOD, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS
Hi Carl, the picture of the wood in the barrels, it looks like you have access to some really nice fuel.Everyones builds are looking nice it wont be long!!
Hi Ron, good job at Ivy Tech. My friend has a cabinet door shop and I’ve been getting 800- 1000 lbs a week. Some will require cutting. Oak, maple, alder, walnut, birch, @ knotty pine.
Great works by all. Wanted to post a couple of pictures of Ed’s truck we hope to have finished or finish up during the meetup in Buffalo Oct. 6
Ed’s truck is 79 4wd 4 spd 400 cubic inch with 12" lift and custom low end torque intake manifold. He plans to haul a lot of wood with it, so he is staying with metal as much as possible in the back parts. The primary condensate tank comes off with 4 bolts.
