Condolences. Sad to hear of this sudden loss to the wood gas community.
My son made some mead in his bed room closet, I’ll have a glass in his memory. I suspect Mike would get a kick out of that.
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Cross posting from the Yahoo list. A few more memories of Mike.
OMG !!! Mike was a good soul… Talked with him many, many times on the phone, will really miss his sense of humor !!!
Sinserest Condolences to his family & friends.
Greg Manning
When Mike was still posting regular in our yahoo woodgas group, I always admired, his joyful Coolness. He never lost his temper, he never got annoyed he was always ready to explain to newcomers, what for him must has been so obvious and boring, but he never showed the least bit of arrogance.
I call myself happy to having entered this list when he was still here and having learned from the experience of this genuine woodgas pioneer. He taught me one thing valuable. Woodgas is a simple thing and not the complicated hocus pocus some like to make out of it.
It kept me go looking for the most simple solutions and not let me distract or getting confused by woodgas intellectuals…
64 years old! Much too young to die. It must be a big grief and loss for the family. It is also a big loss for our woodgas community.
Luk Vanhauwaert
That old cliché’, “when they made Mike LaRosa, they threw away the mold” seems to apply. Only one of Mike, I think. What a great guy. And a genius, I believe. His builds and welds could be a little messy and might require frequent maintenance, but he was all about “Obtainium” - making do with what materials you could easily find around town. And in fact idea of using the castiron disk brake rotor as a cheap, widely-available solution for an Imbert hearth, complete with restriction – was an example of his genius. Behold: The LaRosafier! Many probably aren’t aware that Mike’s gasification efforts were featured in the excellent book, The Knowledge. How the author found Mike, I don’t know, but The LaRosafier would be totally appropriate for a viable build for running a vehicle on woodgas after a worldwide, cataclysmic event.
Back in 2010, I believe it was, I attended Jim Mason’s magical woodgas seminar in Berkeley - along with Ron Ohler and other woodgas notables. Mike was hesitant about traveling out to Berkeley. He was in a bad mood because he lost his pocketknife to TSA or something. Jim offered Mike a plane a plane ticket, and I told him I would bring a new pocketknife for him! So, he took the bait. Without communication about same, I’m sure both Jim and I wanted him present for both his knowledge and his spirit. The event was quite memorable.
Mike upset some folks every once in a while, and sometimes he would tell you more than you wanted to know about health issues or something. But Mike was the wildcard - the guy that might just come up with a totally off the wall solution that might just work. Mike made everything more interesting. I will regret that I never got to visit him and find out more about the giant galena deposit he lived on that functioned as a crystal antenna, time travel, and more. Rest easy, Mike!
Martin Payne
"I hadn’t talked to Mike for quite a while but for some time we would talk at least weekly. I was down to his place 2 or 3 times (just 1.5 hours south) He had lots going on in his old trailer house shop, and his radio shed with the basement. The one time my Mrs was with me and we had lunch with him and Sue. Had some kick butt salsa they made up.
I was stunned to find out he passed. Like you said Martin sometimes he would give you too much info. I know he had some health stuff going on, but sometimes when he told me about some of self-doctoring he did I would have thought he might have lived forever
He always told me about getting out and getting some vitamin D (getting out in the sun) and wanted to know how I was doing driving my Toyota on wood.
I still have the obituary open on my computer. Kinda still getting use to having to let go.
Definitely one of a kind. Rest easy man……till we meet again.
David Siedschlag.
He always told me about getting out and getting some vitamin D (getting out in the sun) and wanted to know how I was doing driving my Toyota on wood.
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Report from Mike’s family.
Erika and I made the drive to Linden, WI from Alabama this past weekend. My back problem meant we had to stop and stay a few nights on the road, which is not really our style. Turns out the whole trip is just about 2000 miles. We justified it some by calling it a 20th anniversary road trip. Mike’s family members were touched by the things people said on this thread. They didn’t seem aware of how many people appreciated him in the gasifier world. His wife Sue was funny in that she could not understand why we would want a trailer load of …Let’s just say, Junk. But they were happy to be giving it to Jesse to fix up and learn from, and hopefully use the knowledge to help others, perhaps in Africa someday.
We loaded one of the smaller trailer gasifiers on the larger trailer. And we scrounged all the most usefull pieces and parts from several gasified vehicles and sheds and piles of stuff. There were several partial new gasifiers buried in the work space under piles of tools and parts and pieces. We did not get to those because of the weight of it all. But we “obtained” as many valves and fittings and vaccuum gauges and different filters and ammo cans with pipes attached and …and…and…
The family said the rest of it was available to anyone who wants to get it, but I think there is little left worth much of a trip. I took some photos of his old builds that will be in the scrap bin next week. I thought I would post them here to preserve them a little.
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This one is after we already stripped out the rails so I guess it doesn’t look like much after we got finished with it. But it did have a nice set of rails with those 3" pipes. (/uploads/default/original/3X/1/0/1083d7009fe995397d49a4382d172d64de8176b1.JPG)
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I think this is the “Mike La Rosa” style wood chunker. LOL. But he did have plenty of wood around. Every car and shed and the mobile home was stuffed full of boxes of chunked wood. II’m sure we could have driven to AL and back on the wood he has there. If anyone is close by, it might be worth a trip to get it. If you need to contact them, let me know.
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That’s that I guess. This trip has had me thinking a lot. We only get to go around once in this life. Let’s live a life that doesn’t just end with a junk pile going into a scrap bin. How about we make our lives about helping others and then when we’re gone, it won’t matter what happens to the junk pile. We’ll have a legacy beyond the stuff… Just a thought.
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Billy, It’s nice to see that “stuff” live on. A fitting tribute, a real gas, sort of!
Pepe
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Yes Billy wonderful words there you spoke. I never got to meet Mike, I wish I would have. I think his video of him starting up his Gasifier truck, to show someone how it all worked; was one of the first gasifier videos I saw, and some how it lead me to Drive On Wood. Thank you for taking the pictures. Mike’s legacy will live on through his family, friends, and from what we all have learned from him. All the gasifiers and parts you hauled home and what was left, is prove that Mike was a doer. No arm chair building going on with him in his life time. A true Wood/Char Gasification Man, and American made all the way.
Bob
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Sort clip from about 2007
Mike filming and talking.
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Mike LaRosa getting ready to leave the first Woodgas get together.
He used to come up in the summer and stay out at the Wood Camp. He liked the solitude of the bush.
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I was sad to learn Mike LaRosa has passed on.
I was on his wood gas site very early on…
My condolences to all his family and friends , virtually or otherwise…
He was a great guy…!!
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I still miss him.
More characters needed. Letter characters, not Mike like characters. Although, more Mike like characters are welcome!
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Yes. I miss the anytime; Mike LaRosa phone calls.
Mike and I would talk down my cell phones battery often.
Mike, though a bit “interesting” had a good heart and he did care much.
Bled his life into woodgas.
A real show you kinnda guy.
Mike was the work-a-round King.
Steve Unruh
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Just found out Mike is gone. I first Talked to Mike in 07 when I was building a gasifier. He was an encourager, exhorter to anyone that crossed his path. He would have been a good neighbour to have nearby.
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I wish he was my neighbor. Yes, his calls ranged from HAM to ducktape-gas to run ins with the local long arm of the law . . . Never understood why he was interested in talking with me. I did appreciate it.
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I will comment here as this is the most appropriate topic for what I want to say.
Mike LaRosa and I were brothers-in-woodgas.
We talked a lot. Argued some. Always came back to our core commonality.
We want woodgas awareness not to be put back aside, ever, again.
Woodgas made from site grown wood is, and has been; the only everyman fuel.
Will always be the only; everyman true freedom fuel.
Actual system details and froo-fraw’s has never been it, for me’n Mike.
Being able to take ANY system, and make some useable engine fuel gas has been our second Goal.
For me’n Mike; and those who think like us, the Operator is not just 75% of the the solution. He/she is 90% of the solution.
And this Operator as the #1 focus frustrates most of the Systems Designers. I get a lot of Hate thrown my way.
These “I made this” new Papa’s; so Proud of their creations.
With us often saying . . . . yeah . . . new kid system alright. Sure works the Operator too much with all of it’s fuels fussing, tars drooling&peeing, and slipped char pooping.
So in the old publications. And rare seldom found written interviews, it has been the actual using Operators experiences that I have sought out.
Here are a few I’d found:
“The Kahlies were OK. But needed not just common charcoal fuel. Needed special fine graded Kahlie charcoal bagged fuel.”
“Yes the Imberts factory units were OK . . . IF you fed them perfectly dried wood.” “Needed special port opening up tools”
“Yes the Brandts worked good until you ran short of charcoal to add.” “Or they ash flows clogged.”
The consensus of the many Operators back then saying they liked the Gohin Poulenc the best. Their wider range of wood fuel use flexibly? Sensible, by-hand, tool-less porting? Or just the slave labored French/Dutch/Belgium Operators liking anything NOT German?
So todays creations . . .
I have distinct favorable features I have come to love as an Operator. Other features being built that I hate to have to work around.
But call this arrogance.
I and a few others who’ve worked hard to become true Operators can make anything work after some fashion. Even a straight piece of 100mm pipe.
And do this ONLY by knowing and following the core basics.
Charbed. Charbed. Charbed.
Get it first hot. Then Hot. Then HOTTER yet. And Keep it HOT.
Then it becomes how hard you: the builder/designer made me work to achieve these.
Then it becomes how hard you: the designer/builder will complain later about system clogging’s, burn-troughs and corrosions pin-holing.
So comments from me and other true Operators is just trying to help you avoid these later crying’s.
Just the true of it.
Steve unruh
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Thanks Steve, I appreciate your honesty and constructive criticism. Listening to you all that know about gasification when I am not doing something correctly has saved me problems up front in building. Sometimes I did not listen and I have some builds to prove it. If you can’t take constructive criticism when building on this site and showing what you are building. Then don’t show it. But to me that would be foolish.
I like this.
I might add Keep It Simple, KIS, KIS. as you can.
To all Mike LaRosa freinds, I am sure they miss you being heard on this DOW site.
Bob
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One of the things I remember about Mike was that he was a man of high degree. After getting his degree in chemistry he landed a job. He didn’t like what he saw. I don’t remember the details but it had something to do about what his employer was doing. He tried to show them the problem and how to correct it but they refused to respond. I believe he then quit that job. I do not recall any other chemistry job stories. I think, after a bit of time, he got into surveying. I don’t remember the story well and I hope I am somewhat accurate.
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Somewhere in between he worked for years in HVAC.
Where he learned WC pressures.
Learned well to tape joints.
S.U.
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Steve, thanks for the reminder.
He also re-invented the gasifier. Before he learned about gasification, he was looking at tumble weeds as a fuel. He cracked one or more up and placed it into some kind of burner and ran a station wagon (or car like thing) for about a mile. Well, that is what I remember. He didn’t tar up the engine because of the short run time, if I remember correctly.
One time on some other kind of forum, Mike verbally attacked me. Don’t remember the details. I knew his brain was a wash in booze, so I just played along. I was having a blast and really enjoyed the event. Later, after drying out a bit, Mike apologized. He thought that I was/am a serious person. Ha. I kept saying that there was no need, it was all in fun. Even at Argos he felt bad about it. Mike, if your reading this - I never took offense of the event. Honest! It was fun. It was a blast . . .
Sometimes a fella needs to step back to see the big picture. That’s the source of my humor.
I can still hear his voice over the phone.
Cheers,
Jeff
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