Thanks for the information Bruce. I’ll have to look up some of the terms. On-line sources, admittedly prepper/survivalist sites seemed to indicate that as long as you weren’t boiling the water in the wood mash that it wouldn’t rise with the alcohol. Of course your practical experience overrides that. The price of the Aliexpress unit would not bother me since using all new purchased cooker, tubing and fittings got me over 80 bucks on sale. The hundred and sixty shipping is a killer though. Anyway I’ll take a picture of what I’ve made and you can tell me how I can tweak it to make it functional. I kind of assumed that running the first issue of methanol back through again may be necessary.
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I hadnt been following this topic from the start so l domt have much background but l see my name mentioned.
Check out the “gas to liquid” topic. It will be clearer then.
In short, yes but not out of carbon. There is a reaction between H2 and CO called Fischer-Tropsch reaction that, depending on condition, produces hydrocarbons of different lengh. Also methane, althugh in industry thats unwanted
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I had to look this up and read it. I remembered reading about WW2 Germany making gases out of coal.
Bob
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Bob, most of Hitlers fuel came from coal. He perfected the process wery well. The synthetic fuel factoryes doubled as steam power plants to use acces energy from the exothermic reaction thats going on in the FT reactor.
The downside of the process is it makes linear, unbranched chains wich means extremely low octane rating. But on the other side, extremey good cetane rating diesel!
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No worries about not reading this topic back up to it’s beginnings Kristijan.
It is about selecting the more optimal engines for woodgas.
You’ve already chosen with your tractor and limited availability of vehicles. You are a well proven “make-What-I-have-Work” fellow.
What is happening on-make-better-fuels; is topic drift.
That O.K. with me.
Ha! I am out of engine Ideas to post up.
Woo-Woo engines talking about other than internal combustion piston engines and I’d jump in and say fellows: go get your own room. Green Steam engines are a lie. Stirling engines are a beat to death dead horse. Same with rotary engines. Both Engineering beat to death, and still lacking conversion efficiency. And service life’s.
And Micro-steam/micro-turbines are energy pits in comparison to current developed IC pistons sized for us individual power users.
Some topic drift is good. More to learn that way.
Best Regards to All
Steve Unruh
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Sorry Steve,
I got into the weeds because I saw Tom heading down a path I had some experience on. I couldn’t help myself, I had to comment.
I would rather actually be kept on topic because we have something good going on here.
I just bought another international idi 6.9l diesel in a short bus/motor home. 1987 year.
I like these industrial IH versions of what was in the Ford pickups.
Part of the challenge for this topic is actually finding engines that are inexpensive enough to acquire, but still can be experimented on.
That’s why I am excited about that Harbor Freight coming in to Houghton. I am anxious to see that 224cc Clone.
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As I said no worries. You are all Big-boys, friends.
Look at this topic drifted pictures set I just found catching up reading the “What Followed Me Home Today” topic:
His free-for-work Chevy pickup brought home; with a woodgas well proven 350 V-8 is a few comments above this gorgeous picture set. Free truck at comment #112.
S.U.
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I’m absolutely green with envy about that pickup he got. I need to get my dad to talk to his buddy and get the Jaguar trade going for that 350sbc and tb350 transmission. I’ll be the judge if the floorboards can’t be repaired.
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Hey BruceJ, my Harbor Freight engine lusting is for thier affordable, modifiable V-Twin engine. I love to woodgas aircooled V-Twins.
S.U.
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I’m pretty sure everybody here can search and find things on the site better than me. I’m as guilty as anyone of thread drift but I would have liked all nozzle posts in one place and all filter posts in one place, ect. Anyway this is somewhat back to the point here. New Road Kill Garage. Just seeing how well a 4x4 chevy 350 carbed work truck matched up with a 4x4 V-10 work truck. No advantage to either and the Chevy had a Turbo 350 while the Dodge had a 5 speed manual.
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As he states there is now lots of performance parts modifications available.
Sigh. I winched when he did reassembly with power tools. He should be hands-feel-training himself.
And if you watch trough, I cringed him reaching across the open flywheel fan to start it up.
Then later Rev-testing this obviously is not mounted down engine. Watching tools and the table cover bouncing and bunching up close to being open fan wanting to eat.
So true . . . “Youth is wasted on the Young”.
I was once young and Dumb too.
Got the scars from it.
Steve Unruh
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Here’s a Supercharged 670 V Twin as well. Single Mikuni carburetor.
You can buy these little Roots superchargers for cheap. They sell one big enough for my Mazda… Very tempting… I have an AC compressor location freed up just to fit one…
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Cody,
Thanks this looks interesting for Experiments with gas, that shall not be named.
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I would need to reconfigure the entire intake manifold. I don’t think the Weber 32/36 is blow through friendly. But if I went total woodgas then it could be blow through I think, with just a simple butterfly throttle body.
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Another rabbit hole of mine Steve, small engine swapped mud trucks…https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPxeX_PfK7n3Mu2lNl7Et1H8vfVV-2EMQ full playlist of single cylinder predator swapped trucks
I have not played with the v motors yet. Been following vasily builds for years, yes many young man mistakes. But, even still can learn from him. He played that motor into turbo charging as Bruce and Cody talked about, I don’t recall the arrangement being fantastic. But if one was so Inclined, simplicity of these predator motors I think would be ideal for bolt on and check power/torque on wood/char gas. Easy to work on, easy to get parts for, reasonably priced. This then maybe morphed into forced induction woodgas performance testing. All done at the bench, or maybe a small go cart like vasily used. Noticable gains and losses can be felt easily with something as simple as a timed drag race, a weighted towing test, or taken to a Dyno small engine shop as here with the grind hard boys
https://youtu.be/SmsQZlBiH38
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This is mine…
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O.K. guys look at this single cylinder engines characteristics as can be woodgassed:
https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200638585_200638585
This is actually a Lifan made-in-China engine.
No matter. I only used Northern site for the pictures and specs. Supposedly you can get these on E-Bay for as low as $269 USD. I could not get the Harbor Freight version to load up cleanly.
A 420cc 15hp (on gasoline) rated. Now run loaded 2200-2800 on woodgas/chargas get ~8-10hp. Just by compression boosting. Easy.
Anyone can buy these now. Buy one. Buy two. Buy three. Modify. Experiment as you wish. Be your own parts supplier by buying more than one.
I have two horizontal Kohler Command 17.5hp single cylinder engines stilled owned off of previous rider lawnmowers. ~1,000 hours on the one. ~1,600 hours on the other.
490cc. With pressure lubrication thru an oil filter. With gear driven counterbalance shaft weighting system. Very, very reliable and durable.
I also have on the 34 ton wood splitter a single cylinder horizontal B&S I/C (Industrial -Commercial) 10.5hp engine. 344cc. Has some type of counter rotating driven “Anti-vibration” system. Splash lubricated.
So I have been; and wanted to be; a big single cylinder engine guy.
Then BenP. put me onto woodgas setting up, and converting a big made-in-China 999cc Genrac branded V-Twin on a 17kW? 22kW? electrical generator system.
I was stunned. Easy starting. Actually quieter than any of my big singles. Smoother running under a load too.
Wow. And all of those years listening to the guys with their American big V-Twins bragging, and inwardly (quietly) laughing at them. Phew! Right over my head was that the three major Japanese motorcycle brands joined-them, with their own V-Twin motorcycles.
Stupid. Stupid, me.
Then I bought my used made-in-New Zealand swing blade sawmill. It had been retrofitted from electric motor driven, to a Kohler Command V-twin 20hp engine. Easy starting. Smoother cutting than a single cylinder four stroke engine could ever be. And again; that quiet dual entry noise cancelling type muffler system.
Wow. I fell in love.
My next was the Miller-Kohler Trailblazer 12kW welder-generator set. Bigger 24hp Kohler V-twin. With this time a Delpi EFI. Quiet. Smooth under a loaded running rpm.
And now the latest we bought in the Club Cadet rider lawnmower with a Kawasaki “FR” small V-Twin. 603cc. ~18hp. Pressure lubricated with a filter.
Five years on that one now. The dash run clock stopped for 2 years. Started up again last year. Shows now 650 hours. Probably engine hours of ~900+ Good compression and power. No oil consumption. No oil smoking.
Now here is the deal. V-Twins and you get pressure lubrication thru a filter. Singles: maybe yes. Maybe no.
V-Twins have NO; and need no, counter balance shaft systems that many of the large singles really DO NEED.
What you do not have, does not need power to spin. No extra gears and added end bearings to wear and fail. Kohlers follow-on, more-affordable, “V” “Courage” named series singles went to two camshafts with dual sided eccentric spinning counter balance weights. These shed a lot internal engine metallic particles. Wearing out everything internally.
The same Courage named engines series in a V-Twin, were single camshaft, no counter balancing, anti-vib system needed, and last, and last with good oil changes.
Sure. Sure. Single guys will say that the V-Twins have half again as many moving, friction making wearing out parts over a single. Not true. Still only one camshaft with two end bearings. Still only a one throw crankshaft with two end bearings.
ANY of the singles with counter rotating anti-vib systems NOT contributing power, will have more wearing parts than the V-Twins second cylinder-piston; and set of two more, valves and their actuation train.
V-Twins loaded slowed down to 2200-2800 rpm woodgassed I think are the way to go.
Steve Unruh
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Thanks Wallace, Tom, Steve, engine will be used as a stationary engine driving generator, circular saw for wood processing, hydraulic pump for log splitter, planned wood chunker. I’m thinking maybe the diesel chinese 13 HP engine I have is a good candidate, compression 17:1, almost 900 cc, easily spark modified. Problem is I do not think the engine will handle the circular saw. (600 mm). Maybe double up? I have three of these engines?!
Thanks for the engine advice also, I have not bought the 292. (I’m beginning to think it is overkill). Steve’s comment on 4.0 AMC made me do some more research. These are still available, with spares, in South Africa because Jeep is still operational. Comes at a cost though. Option 3 is the Australian Ford Barra, of which we have lots. Cheap, but I’m told that if you require spares buy another engine…
As an aside, my father was an agricultural engineer, trained in the imperial system. So I got quite good at converting imperial to metric so that I could understand whatever we were discussing, then converting back to imperial so that he could understand my answers and questions.
And finally, a big thank you to everybody discussing all sorts, I learn a LOT very quickly reading through all the posts!
Regards
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Good to read this Philip vS.
Do-It-Yourself always use a factor of 3X for what you do have, or can readily, locally get.
Not saying, to not international order in. But it had better be for sure 4X better than the local.
Can you describe the Australian Ford Barra engine system please?
I cannot search find this.
REgards
Steve unruh
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