If I built another v-10 for my current driving habits I can think of three small things I would change . The cooling rails would be modular similar to the cooling rack on Chris’s truck … I would add more hopper cooling tubes and they also would be removable with the hose connectors . Third the fire tube would have the air entrance at the top vs the bottom . ( same way I am doing it on the tractor and will do on the 95 dakota )
If my driving demands were more open road and longer trips I would consider a bigger gasifier but going bigger will get expensive quick .
Hi Wayne if you built a bigger fire tube to say a 14" tube or even 15 " , to save space in the fire tube barrel you could reduce the fire tube fins to 3/4" and then put the insulation on the outside of the fire tube barrel vs inside. Then you should getaway with a standard 210 lt drum .
Just a thought
Thanks Patrick
I think it would be good if you need bigger truck, i may only be good for 45 too 50MPH on my old chevy,I gess the bigger the burn tube , or a over sized burn tube you could change wood size too bigger chunks.the smaller wood trys to make more tar ,then the real big chunks might not get charcoed in time is my gatherings, wayne did mentsion putting skins,insulate out side of standard 55 barrow for bigger burn tube,good reminder though,THANKS , PS I think you right 15" is about the limit that way too have ample room for gas out build up,.
Yes , some room can be gained by using narrower fins but can’t get too narrow because of the space needed at the nozzle area.
In the past I have tried to insulate on the inside and stay away from insulating the out side of the thin drums . With no insulation on the inside of the drums the paint will burn off the outside and cause rust.
I like the sour of the engine when it shifts and the sound drops a couple of octaves. It looks like you and your neighbor live just a couple of miles down the road from each other, but you have drive a couple of miles to get to the road and then drive a few more miles from the road to his shack. At times on the drive I seriously though you had lost his roadTomC
Yes the roads down here don’t always go the direction you would like to travel .
My wife’s sister lives just over two miles from us the way the crow would fly. To drive to her house is ten plus miles . But when I suggest to the wife the crow path and her feet for frequent visits to save ware and tare on vehicles it doesn’t go over well ( creeks ,mountains and critters )
That looks like a lot of energy for a Gilmore Simplefier rather than throwing it out to the garden. Doesn’t it have to be “charged” or something before it is of any use in soil.
Also, it doesn’t look like you are getting any “ash” in that, mostly slip char. I burned a lot of old wood right down to ash this summer and from 500 # of wood I would expect to get that much ash alone. Your soot/ash is going into the heat exchanger and cooling rails. How often do you clean those? I have a cyclone and a hay/foam filter and I know I get soot up to the TBI. When people talk about your “drop box” are they referring to your heat exchanger? I’m sure the gas in my “counter flow heat exchanger” moves to fast to drop much ash/soot. TomC
Yes I agree being a lot of energy in the pile and would work nicely for a small charcoal gasifier . I think about 80-90% of the pile is char. In the past I have screened it and mixed it in with the raw wood and used in the gasifiers.
What I have been told about the biochar is that it will not do much good the first couple of years but if nutrients are added it will help to retain them.
Much of the ash and soot will fall out in the dropbox ( picture below )
I will dump the ash from the dropbox and let the water off the big condensate tank 500-1000 miles .
I will washout the cooling rails if two or three of them remain cold while operating . It might take a couple months of driving .
I tried to keep a log because I couldn’t remember when I cleaned ash, hopper condensate , gasifier condensate , cooling rails , hay filter and drob box on the V-10, 93 dakota , 94 Ram and the tractor . That didn’t work out to good because I can’t remember where I put the log book
Sure is some pretty country there. I had forgotten about the spacer in the ammo can. mine will have to be a little bit different because I insulated mine with a 1/2 " of rock wool and a stainless liner. Getting closer every day, can not thank you enough for sharing all you have learned with us.
Thank you Mr. Wayne-- the picture is more what I thought you should get from burning 500 lb of wood. The drop box/heat exchanger does a great job of collecting ash. I may have to rethink what I am doing ( it’s so d— cold, I don’t feel like going to the shop, so I have plenty of time to "think’) TomC
Wayne , in your response to Carl you stated you would make your hopper cooling tubes removable with hose connectors. Is this for the thermal break created by the hose , ease of cleaning, both or another reason?
It will be easy for inspection and cleaning if needed. Also one can exprement with very thin and different tube material. I think the thiner the tube the better it will condense the gas but on the other had it may have a short life so replace if needed . On this tractor I can utilize empty rattle cans for the tubes.
The initial expense will be a little more when considering the cost of the couplings
Hi Wayne,
I was just catching up on some reading and clicked on the link here, but I got an error message. In general is there a list of comments by number? Thanks.
Pepe
Yes the cattle bridge /gates work very well . I have one but have never got it installed. I have a few acres that is not in the pasture and will allow a few cows to graze it and they will always come back in the pasture when they are full. . If too many gets out I will scold or put the dogs after them . If they think they are stealing the grass it seems they like it much better .
" The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence "
( creeks ,mountains and critters )
