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Charcoal burner on trucks ?

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3 years 8 months ago #212239 by Rattail 1927
Just reading the vintage trucks and commercial magazine and 1948 ford truck running a charcoal burner .
I heard of them but when I ask the question everyone goes quiet.... can anyone shed some light, jim sorry about the picture, I don’t seem to get a straight picture
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3 years 8 months ago #212241 by bparo
Replied by bparo on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
the idea was you burnt charcoal in them and the gas given off was used as the fuel source for the motor instead of petrol. I saw one in action at Lake Goldsmith feeding a stationary motor once but people told me that they were almost impossible to keep running correctly on a moving vehicle as the motion upset the quality of the gas coming out of them. They were mainly used during the war when petrol was in short supply

Having lived through a pandemic I now understand all the painting of fat people on couches!
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3 years 8 months ago #212242 by Lang
Replied by Lang on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
They normally had to get going on petrol to warm up to run properly. I believe, if set up correctly, they were OK but considerably reduced power. Some vehicles had large gas bags on the roof to overcome variations in use-as-you-go production.

There is a lot about them on the web and quite a bit on the forum if you can find it.

lang

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3 years 8 months ago #212243 by mammoth
Replied by mammoth on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
It was old technology, called "producer gas". Quite a few power stations were run on producer gas from 1920's until diesel took over. It is actually raw wood that is fed into a retort with only just enough air to keep it going but not enough to burn the gas given off. Next time you are in front of a wood fire you will see the coals burning but then a gap and then the gas above providing the flames. The quality of the gas depended on how well it was "scrubbed' meaning ash and other impurities filtered out. I believe there will be plans for home built ones on the web.
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3 years 8 months ago #212244 by Lang
Replied by Lang on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
If you want to know ALL about it read this. Looks technical but it is a very interesting bit of Australian history.

Lang

consuleng.com.au/Producer%20Gas%20&%20th...torist%201939-45.pdf
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3 years 8 months ago #212248 by Zuffen
Replied by Zuffen on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
Interesting read Lang.

I remember my Parents talking about gas producers in use during the War.

As a side note the article mentioned the road death toll in Victoria being 421 in 1941 with a bulge in the 18-21 age group. not much changes.

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3 years 8 months ago #212251 by hayseed
Replied by hayseed on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
My Grandfather had one on a IH W30 Tractor during the War,He had to put Low Compression Pistons In It.After the War he put the Standard Pistons & liners back in It..

I have the Low compression Pistons rings & Liners in their Original Packing Crate in My Shed..

"Be who you are and say what you feel...
Because those that matter...
don't mind...
And those that mind....
don't matter." -

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3 years 8 months ago #212252 by Mrsmackpaul
The Tomm's magazine ran a series of articles some years ago (10 or more years) and wood gas was been used to run outback power houses
I have no idea what size but from the photos in articles they were very large low reving type motors and I seem to remember these ran well into the 50's or maybe even 60's

Perhaps someone on here knows of the article and could scan it and post it for us to read including me as it was very interesting

I remember I photo copied it for my father who was always into power generation

Paul

Your better to die trying than live on your knees begging

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3 years 8 months ago - 3 years 8 months ago #212274 by Rattail 1927
Thanks guys I’ve got a ides now , I imagine if they were hard to keep going it must have been a nightmare to get started , people are ingenious when they need to be aren’t they, it obviously was a last resort I imagine otherwise everyone would be still using it ? And are briquettes charcoal, ? I remember when I was about 11 or 12 lighting the hot wAter heater and using briquettes to run it... in the mid 80’s when gas was being put on cars but everyone never thought about gas on trucks , a guy I know was carting milk from Deniliquin to Sydney twice or 3 times a week as a driver and I don’t know how it came to be but he had a couple of 9kg bottles of lpg and had a micro switch on the loud pedal and it injected a small amount of gas but apparently he reckoned it gained 100 hp .. this was in a bonneted Mack super liner I’ve no idea how much gas it injected but I assume it wouldn’t be much ,1 or 2 psi .I never seen the setup I had past it a number of times but was totally unaware of what it had going on .. I’d do it to the Acco and probably blow the intake manifold and carby clean off it ...
Last edit: 3 years 8 months ago by Rattail 1927.

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3 years 8 months ago #212276 by Lang
Replied by Lang on topic Charcoal burner on trucks ?
Somewhere on the forum there is something about gas over diesel conversions.

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