Honestly, and I’m already ducking when I say this, the easiest and safest way to do woodgas hidden in a vehicle is to use an electric vehicle and charge it with something like this:
Then all you have to do is hide all your activities at home with stuff like muffler or noise cancelling speaker. It won’t fix shtf scenarios unless you pack the system up. But it gets around laggy acceleration and resale value and vehicle mods.
Standing out has it’s advantages in the city, because theft rings won’t steal it even if it’s brand new and you leave the keys in it. Too many mods to make it valuable for parts.
Welcome Changeus, I am fairly new to the forum too and am doing a build for very different reasons.
Having started out with just Youtube knowledge and a few other things that I gleaned off the internet before coming here, let me just offer this advice. Do your homework and get a good set of plans, that is my biggest regret. I started off following the free FEMA plans download that is found everywhere on the internet for free and am now having to do a ton of re-work to get it up and running. I would have been much better off just doing a little more research and buying a set of proven plans from the beginning.
But you have come to the right place, these folks are a wealth of information and are willing to help every step of the way.
Wow, do you have any pictures? Is it easy to load with fuel? I imagine that your setup has to be smaller to accommodate the hard top… how far are you able to go before re-fuelling? Very interested to see how well you have it hidden!
If you decide too cover the gasifier. make sure it is open vents on top and bottom, so there is no place for wood gas too build up ,if say you had a small hose leak, it could be exsplosive,in enclosed area.
That’s why I suggested replacing the windows that hard tops usually have with window screen. It will also allow air flow to keep from turning it into an oven.
What Cody sayd. I will be rebuilding the sistem soon, and when l do l will probably either get rid of the hardtop or make something in that direction. Gets hot inside even without a gasifier.
Just one word of advice, it is a custom here to represent your self with a name and surname. Its how we keep this site on a incredibly highly civilised level. Doing so, you will get all the help and advice from seasoned woodgasers, we here like to talk to a person, not a pseudonime.
I will just attempt something basic for now and worry about hiding the system after I get more experience.
There is a '96 F150 with an inline-6 4.9L engine (fuel injected) for sale in my area. Would this engine be suitable for a first timer? Regular cab with a longbed; a bit of compensation for the bedspace the gasifier will take. I expect I’ll be following Wayne Keith’s plan and trying to hybridize it for wood and gasoline.
As for your target truck, others will chime in to say if its good or not, on this side of the pond the biggest engine we got is about the size of your guys lawn mowers per instance, my truck has a 1.3l engine. But hey! It drives well, with enaugh persistance ANY engine is good.
Going WK style is prooven, cheapest and if dode right, you will not raise any eyebrows. Plans are designed to be easy to build and sorce cheap materials.
Doing it customised, thats a can of worms l wuld not recommend to a beginer. Later, if you decide to, you can go that route and make a sistem that will blend in with the truck. But being serious about a project like that, reading for hours or days here is a must. By now, so many things have been done and shared on this site, it truely is remarkable.
On your above question.
I have found l get about one km from every liter of hopper space. Thats about 2.5 miles per gallon, but with rather small engines. Double that for good measure and you get a figure of the size you need.
Welcome Joe
You will find a few 300/6 Ford fans here, they are a fantastic engine with great down low torque characteristics. Fuel efficient on gasoline loaded not so much. But parts are widely available and they are dirt simple to work on, LONG stroke BIG bore heavy breathers. My group of friends that love these motors call them the inline big block Cylinder capacity and compression come heavily into play with woodgas. Inline engines by design are better balanced then a v configuration so run smoother, and in my experience woodgas tames a rattly rowdy v8 to run very smoothly partly due to the inherent slower flame speed in the cylinder. The longer stroke can utilize this well although if I recall those motors are pretty low compression by the efi smog emissions days. Adjustable distributor for easy timing adjustment and more power on wood as well. There is a 300/6 that has been done here I believe though I can’t recall who it was pretty sure it was a 60’s Ford truck
If the truck is otherwise stock and not loaded down with heavy crud like aftermarket bumpers and rims then I’m sure it’ll go highway speeds on woodgas. Ron Lemler has the 60s Ford with an i6 and he can make that heavy thing go 55-60 on wood.
Hah. I’m so stupid I thought Changeus might really be your name. I just figured your parents had a warped sense of humor. That’s Humour for Dave and Ashley.
Honestly, buy the WK book and get the premium membership. You will save significant time, and even if you don’t wish to use his system. you will learn a lot of fundamental information that is applicable to other systems as well.
Both books are worth the investment, but I inferred that from your message
I wonder if there’s a publishing house that prints the Gengas book. I’d like to have a physical copy but my printer would probably give up the ghost by Page 100.
Edit: Whoops I’m getting topics mixed up, the other book of the Two is the Ben Peterson WGBB I referenced in an other topic. Yes the Wayne Keith HWWT book is amazing for vehicle conversions.
per instance, my truck has a 1.3l engine. But hey! It drives well, with enaugh persistance ANY engine is good.
Cylinder capacity and compression come heavily into play with woodgas. Inline engines by design are better balanced then a v configuration so run smoother, and in my experience woodgas tames a rattly rowdy v8 to run very smoothly partly due to the inherent slower flame speed in the cylinder. The longer stroke can utilize this well although if I recall those motors are pretty low compression by the efi smog emissions days. Adjustable distributor for easy timing adjustment and more power on wood as well. There is a 300/6 that has been done here I believe though I can’t recall who it was pretty sure it was a 60’s Ford truck
