Tone and Jan A.,
I can’t resist offering a comment or two…
First thing: Aerodynamics. The Fergie is arguably more aerodynamic than a square Volvo of that period with a large cartop storage box strapped on top. Does your power vs. speed formula factor in a drag coefficient? Same for a Chevy S10. That is a big reason why Wayne K. recesses his gasifier below bed height in his Dakota, to get the top of the gasifier below the cab roof.
Second: A Chevy S10 with a 4.3 V6 is about as reliable a USA American-built vehicle as can be found or recommended. I have also wondered why, living in the land of Volvos, you wouldn’t build one on woodgas for travel comfort, economy, shopping and availability of parts. IMHO.
Good observations MikeR.
I’ll add some. There is a human fascination with “the best, the best, the best”.
What matter the strength and reliability of the engine if the transmission or another drivetrain component ELECTRONICS SYSTEMS is a weak-link? A “weak-sister”.
ALL vehicles are a complex assembly of many parts and systems. They will all in my experiences have one or more weak-links components. Learn these pattern-failure components. Replace out for stronger when possible. Cheaper, easier to baby, and over-maintain that known weak-sister buying time before failure. Appreciating the rest of the vehicle for what it can do for you.
Ha! Ha! Me? I am know to often select butt-ugly outer designs for a more durable, repairable under the skins systems.
If I lived in France I would for sure have a carefully selected out French car. Northern Europe I’d go for either an older Opel or M.B.
TomH. the first real cursed vehicle forced obsolescence is road salts IMHO. Then you must become like the folks out here silly enough to live on the Pacific Coasts and become an obsessive daily vehicle wash-down fanatic. Spend much time, research and $'s on under chassis preservatives.
Yeah. Yeah. The endless cycling of greater and greater overcomplicated electronics is for sure a forced obsolete scam too. Geeks and Eco’s inspired. The my Money, making more Money folks love forced obsolesce factors too.
Since even the late 90’s using cast plastics in engine coolant system became a down-the-road critical failure factor. Fords stone reliable 1st generations SOHC V-8’s pretty much all needed upgraded to all metal intake replacements. Then the just after that time period it was GM across the board once reliable V-engines with the all-failure thick insulate cast plastic intake “gaskets”. Coolant from the crossover then leaking directly down into the engine oil guts. Seriously; GM’s fix was dosing the systems with vegetable husks fiber pellets! Often overdosing versus disassembly repairing; the clinging, clumping fibers would clog the heater core. Aftermarket developed thick metal replacements to maintain the alignment spacing. Not a fun, fun to do upgrade. Best done before the failure.
Almost all Chrysler/Dodges 2000’s era with cast plastic thermostat housings will heats warp and will leak in their 2nd and 3rd year. Lose the coolant - keep driving - and then lose then the head gasket.
Eh. Make your choices. Chose wisely for the easiest reparability and upgradeability. Spoiled car-rich country American-me: I only acquire buy what was made in 10,000 and 100,000 per years lots for accumulated millions on the roads. Specific made in Kentucky or Indiana Toyota’s now for us.
Sweden - yep be a Volvo.
Steve Unruh
I would love to build on a Volvo or another brand that has parts for here in Sweden, but I would prefer a pickup, I drive home 1m2 of firewood every week in the winter, and it is easier with a flatbed than a cart.
Volvo doesn’t have a pickup and the Asian ones are so expensive that kids make tractors out of them, or sell them to Ukraine.
When I started with this, you recommended a big engine and injection and metal in the intake manifold, which I followed.
I have only had one car before with an automatic transmission, an MB SLC350, so I have no experience with these,
I have bought another S10 now with several gearboxes that are broken, which I was going to look at, it will be interesting.
It is a shame that there are no parts for these cars in Sweden, and if there are they cost 4-5 times as much as shipping from the USA.
The way I drive now, it probably doesn’t matter if the hopper sticks up above the bed, it mostly goes at 80-90kmh, and the condensation will probably be better too.
Jan,
I was thinking that you would have two woodgas vehicles, the pickup you already have, and a Volvo sedan or wagon to be used differently. A pickup for work and wood gathering. A passenger car for trips and such. I know that would be a luxury, but a practical one.
Edit: I am kind of jealous that a Volvo 200 or 700 series sedan or estate wagon, with a manual transmission, even in so-so condition, is almost impossible to find for sale in my area! Something very common in Sweden, I think. For that matter, it is hard to find a good Chevy S10!
Mike, let’s try to get the results in another way. For example, I will take my VW Transporter van, it has a permanent 4x4 drive (syncro), I could compare it very much with the S10, or with a Volvo and a roof box … well, the VW has a 2.5 tdi engine, these engines are very economical, because on a level highway when driving 100 to 110 it does not consume more than 7 liters of diesel fuel, which means that it consumes 70 kWh of energy in one hour. I estimate that the engine has an efficiency of between 35 and 40%, which would mean that it needs about 25-30 kW of power for this speed. Please note that the most unfavorable for air resistance is the rear of the vehicle, which is a flat surface with a large surface area, the VW van therefore has the highest air resistance among the selected vehicles, and the S10 has the highest friction losses in the automatic transmission and differentials,…
I apologize to my Swedish friends for littering this topic with my writing.
I was invited to show my woodburner at a classic car meetup. I felt I didn’t really have the time, but since it was within a hopper’s range I accepted anyway (and I got burger and a coke for free )
I know some of you like classic cars. A few pics from today’s event.
Hi Tone, here is a old type of valve lubrication system, from war time woodgas period.
I was called stuff like Top-oiler, and the advertising gave it almost magical advantages, there was special Top-oil sold in small bottles (in practice just oil diluted with kerosene)
I have better pic’s of the whole system, but can’t find them at the moment.
These systems was abandoned later in the woodgas era, because it became illegal to buy oil that couldn’t be recycled.
I can really see the benefits of this, and maybe try it in future, maybe with a oil/ethanol mix, both lubrication and dissolving tar?
Not that i plan to make tar, but i am careless and lazy
Hello Goran, this is definitely a good idea that brings more benefits, the engine will be well lubricated, the valves will seal better, if you have excess used oil, you will use it usefully, because with the help of wood gas, combustion will be complete, the consumption of this lubricating oil depends on the setting and is about 1 liter per 500-1000km, it can be more. I installed a small copper tube in the throttle area, so that the vacuum sucked the oil when the throttle opened slightly…
I was thinking about how to easily determine the actual engine power, but I don’t have a real solution, … well, we can still measure something if we have a tachometer and a vacuum gauge, which is installed directly on the intake manifold, so that we have a measurement of how much gas/air mixture the engine cylinders are “filled” with. If the pressure is close to 1 Bar, this means that the engine is taking in the full amount of mixture and should achieve a torque of approximately 55 Nm/1 liter of working volume, but if the gauge shows a lower pressure, the engine is partially loaded and will not reach this torque and full power.
Hi Tone, i have somewhere a mathematic formula how to calculate engine power, by driving uphill, using a inclinometer to know the degrees of incline.
Then driving, on highest possible gear, until no acceleration or deceleration, this will give a pretty good reading, needs to drive more than one time to get a average result, and no wind, or other cars disturbing.
This should give results close to +/-5hp if done correctly.
Hi Jan , my woodgas truck has broke down so many times on trips long and short . But get this it has not been because of wood gas driving , it been on gasoline. Welcome to DOW. Lol
That’s right. 30+ yo = no road tax. 50+ yo = no tax and no inspection. Both my woodburners are tax free, but still up for inspection every other year. Insurance is about $100 a year each. Fuel cost ???
I think you should get a 1975 Chevy C10 1/2 ton truck. They make aftermarket complete chassis for them. (I think one came with a entire new drivetrain). You drop the cab and bed on them. Granted it will be expensive but essentially it is almost a brand new truck, that looks old and rides a lot smoother or goes faster (since a lot of them are made for hotrods) and you don’t have to deal with inspections.
Since it will rust out, you can replace all the sheet metal with stainless.
The kicker is, your whole drivetrain can be customized for woodgas, and you will be able to beat Tone’s tractor racing.
If you are going to do the whole frame replacement, you just need a cab and a bed and a few other parts, which means you need a junker with a vin so you can get a title.
No C10 junkers to be found. It seems they have all been restored. Whenever people spend $10,000+ in shipping alone - to get US vehicles over here - they don’t let them just sit and rot.
One would think that the Russians would be producing half and three quarter ton pick up trucks for the European market. They have ample gasoline. I have seen video’s of their GAZ vans. They look really nice.
Most are at least twice that price.