Ian,
Sorry I missed the crossties mention above . I know their size and my shoulder hurts just thinking about them.
If the timber is wet or green it can be split into pieces baseball bat size diameter and then sheared fairly easy. If the wood is dry it may be best to use some type saw for the cross cutting.
I would like to do the cross cutting prior to splitting so I think my best bet would just be to modify a regular splitter then incorporate some sort of drop saw(s) later. Im just curious if I could make several cross cuts then split them all at once (one block at a time). Into proper size for fuel. Having the pieces fall into a container. I think the key is going to be in the wedge its pressed against. With a sleeve to a certain point to keep the precut sections from popping out under pressure. Shouldn’t be to difficult as my timber is fixed dimensions.
Hello All,
The last several years I have been using about 75% pine and about 25% hard wood to run the trucks . About ALL the hard wood from my sawmill waste would be chucked up for gasification. ( I don’t saw a lot of hard wood but a lot of pine ) During this fall and winter I cut up some down and cull oaks and used as truck fuel instead of house heat. For several weeks I was running the trucks on a diet of hard wood . The last few weeks I have been running 100% pine and it is hard to document because of all the variables with gasification but I believe I am getting better performance running with pine …
I think in the future any down hard wood or any hardwood sawmill slabs i will put in the house heating pile and try to stay more with pine for the gasification.
Just keep in mind most of the time the best fuel is what you have on hand and available but if I have a choice I think I will be using pine .
BBB
Thanks for the info Wayne.
When you say 75/25%, is that how you mixed it in the bag?
Also, can you explain “better performance”? Does that mean less backfires, puffbacks or just a smoother idle?
Hi Wayne & Ian, Right now I have a lot of maple to use up from the storms here. I have a lot more to process. I’m still doing it the slow way but I enjoy doing that. I have a friend that I buy firewood from. He has a machine that he drops a cull log into and then he sets the round length and a hydraulic operated chain saw cuts the rounds which then drop into a chamber below and then he has a die to split the round. He said he could probably set it as low as 2" disks and still split those. Just food for thought. I’m sure Ian is familiar with such equipment. His machine is diesel powered but he wishes he had bought an electric one so he could use it in his large shed over the winter. Mike
Good Morning Bill,
" When you say 75/25%, is that how you mixed it in the bag? "
At the end of the month used about 500 pounds hard wood and 1500 pounds pine . It may be mixed in any ratio in the bags or I may use three bags of pine to every one of hard wood.
" Also, can you explain “better performance”? Does that mean less backfires, puffbacks or just a smoother idle? "
Faster start up , more power and acceleration , smooth idle , less motor vacuum needed to pull the gasifier. It seems that most of the advantages I may be noticing is a result of easier air flow through the char bed .
No big difference in the above but just enough to notice . Also I find myself reaching for the gasoline kill switch and realize it is already off.
I haven’t been able to document it yet but I think the length of time the gasifier would hold a fire and start back up without a relight would be less with pine. This could be a negative or a plus . If you are through with the gasifier for the day you would want it to shut down quick . If you plan on driving in a few hours you would hope the fire is still live .
No different than when throwing pine in a campfire or a woodstove. If you want some good char left over make sure you finish off with oak or another hardwood but if you want a hot fire and lots of fast power than use the pine. I prefer American or Slippery (red) Elm for this purpose. Not much pine around here except construction scraps … M
I would be interested in seeing pictures or a video of this machine in action. Ill take you guys on a video tour of our guinea pig mill (Research & Development) where we test all the new tech for efficiency before rolling it out to our other mills. Also our pellet mill. To give yall and idea of what I work with. It might give some good ideas.
Thank you for the clarification Wayne.
Just trying to put some puzzle pieces together in my head.
This is an assumption with some fact im just not sure if it applies to the gasifier the same as my home woodstove.
Considering all my wood comes from the mills I work for its still quite green, maybe felled for a week or two before processed in the mill depending on the species, some we have on standby for longer periods of time during the winter. But all that I get is mostly hard maple and primarily red and white oak cross ties. I take these home daily and split them ASAP. They are a pain to get going in the wood stove and I set a bundle on top the wood stove for drying purposes which at some points will release so much moisture (not as much as poplar) that it will fog up the windows in my house. The assumption part is that I will have more in the condensation tank(s) when used in the gasifier. My question would be has anyone experimented with a mobile pre-dryer? Example: A converted, sealed tool box in the bed with air flow/heat being piped through it as you drive to dry wood or keep it dry for one of their wood gas trucks. I have built a small Styrofoam kiln/pre-dryer at my house for expediting this process for my home heat with the green lumber. My concern is maintaining a adequately dried amount of wood supply and just brainstorming with a mobile pre-dryer concept. Curious as to anyone else’s input on the idea. I plan to increase my drying capacity this summer with a larger model of the pre-dryer I have at my house
Hi Ian
I have a stationary unit and this is how I have dried wood for it. It has the radiator heat and the exhaust blowing through it as it slowly turns and tumble dries the wood, very effective but could not keep up with my wood consumption with an engine running at full load for most of the time.
Thanks
Patrick
That’s a nice setup, what kind of temps are you pushing through the tumbler?
The wood was going in at between 30-40% moisture and coming out about 15 % after 1.5 - 2 hours the wood would be around 60C.
Hope this helps.
Thanks
Patrick
Talked to my local mill mangers and asked them about some edging strips for linear processing of chunks instead of using the blocking. Much simpler chunking. Hauled 3 loads yesterday. Just had the “bored” chipper operator pull the strips. With that edger we filled the dakota in 20 minutes.
Real good catch there Ian !!
Looks like it is already sized well for your size gasifier.
If it can be chunked while still green or wet it will be very easy. If the strips are dry a saw works best ( I have used a table saw )
Yesterday the rain ran me out of the hay fields and too wet to do barn repairs so I saw milled. The slabs and edging went right on the tractor forks from the logs and on to the chunker .
We chunked a couple of lifts that should total near 3,000 pounds . After drying should weigh about half that.
HWWT
When we made maple syrup, we always kept a year ahead on wood. Never had a moisture problem that way. When we have wood sawed, I sticker it outside under cover for a year or two. The one inch stuff gets down to about 16% (where it seems to stay forever).
Does wood air dry like that where you are?
Pete Stanaitis
We sell air dried lumber on stick to some local customers that prefer it still green for their uses though im uncertain as to the accuracy of moisture content at the point of sale im sure it varies as its sticked for anywhere between a week and 3 months. We draw the line at 3 months for maintaining storage capacity for our Kiln Dried exports. Of the 8 mills we have in West Virginia and Pennsylvania only half are equipped with predryers and kilns. The edging strips I got yesterday was from a 4/4 and 8/4 red oak cut day. Should all be perfect for chunking. Until I build a chunker I have a large drop saw im going to fit to a trough with a drop slot at the end. Should be able to cut small bundles at a time.
How does the waste, scrap and slabs from a log become as valuable as the clear straight grain lumber that it produces.
When gasoline prices are near $4 a gallon and you happen to be DOW !!
HWWT
Wayne
Yup, I believe it. It took $75 to fill the 6.0L yesterday!
That is very true!!! Makes it all worth it!!!
