Chore Tractor Fueled By Wood

2014 - Volume #38, Issue #4, Page #26

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Ron Lemler’s pallet factory provides lots of fuel for his wood gas-powered tractor that runs on wood scraps. The tractor puts scraps to good use. All he has to do is dry them down.
    “We have lots of 1 by 1 by 3 1/2-in. trimmings from pallet making that are just the right size,” says Lemler. “We dry them down and use them as is. With wood gas, the drier the wood, the better.”
    The wood-powered 1978 IH 574 tractor does plenty of work. Last spring it powered a 4-ft. tiller. During the winter it was used on a 40 kW emergency generator, and it handles a 5-ft. Bush Hog without a problem. Throughout the year it’s used at the pallet plant, loading and moving with bucket and forks.
    Lemler also has a wood gas pickup. Both rigs were built using a set of plans from Mother Earth News. However, Lemler has made a few improvements of his own.
    “The Mother Earth News design is one big welded gasifier, more than 5 ft. tall,” explains Lemler. “You can’t reach into the hearth to get at the grate to service it when you’re running. I built mine more modular.”
    Lemler bolted the hopper to the hearth, and it in turn is bolted to the gas cowlings. This lets him take the hearth off, pull the grate and access the woodgas reduction area. He replaced the original water heater tank hearth with stainless steel and reduced the number of bars in the stationary grate to reduce bridging in the hopper.
    Other changes included increasing the size of the woodgas reduction area under the hearth from about 2 in. deep to about 6 in. The Mother Earth News design runs the woodgas through water to cool and clean it. Lemler uses a bat of fiberglass insulation 1 to 1 1/2 ft. thick.
    “When it gets filled up with soot, I just replace it and burn the dirty one,” he says. “It’s a hot filter that doesn’t retain moisture for the soot to stick to and plug it up. I put 3 layers of fine expanded metal on the bottom to work as a spark arrester and one piece on top to keep the vacuum from sucking the fiberglass into the intake.”
    While soot in the carburetor of his woodgas fueled truck needs to be cleaned out periodically, it hasn’t been a problem in the tractor. “With the simple carburetor in the tractor, it just drops right through,” he says. “I’ve been running it for 3 years now and have had no problems. It runs as well as the first day I started it.”
    One drawback to the woodgas burner is the space it takes up. Lemler says he had to get used to the blind spot created.
    “I could have made it smaller, but with it at this size, I can run it for 3 1/2 hours at pto speed,” he says. “The fuel hopper holds about 80 lbs. of wood.”
    Lemler stresses that he only made changes after he had built his first wood gas burner exactly to plan. “I’ve never stuck an engine or ruined one when I stayed with the plan,” he says. “You can trash out an engine in 10 min. if you don’t know what you are doing. After you learn the nature and process of working with woodgas, you can make changes.”
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lemler Pallet, Inc., 9200 N. Apple Rd., Bourbon, Ind. 46504 (ph 574 646-2707; lempal@rocketmail.com).

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Chore Tractor Fueled By Wood ENERGY Wood Burners 65 Ron Lemler’s pallet factory provides lots of fuel for his wood gas-powered tractor that runs on wood scraps The tractor puts scraps to good use All he has to do is dry them down “We have lots of 1 by 1 by 3 1/2-in trimmings from pallet making that are just the right size ” says Lemler “We dry them down and use them as is With wood gas the drier the wood the better ” The wood-powered 1978 IH 574 tractor does plenty of work Last spring it powered a 4-ft tiller During the winter it was used on a 40 kW emergency generator and it handles a 5-ft Bush Hog without a problem Throughout the year it’s used at the pallet plant loading and moving with bucket and forks Lemler also has a wood gas pickup Both rigs were built using a set of plans from Mother Earth News However Lemler has made a few improvements of his own “The Mother Earth News design is one big welded gasifier more than 5 ft tall ” explains Lemler “You can’t reach into the hearth to get at the grate to service it when you’re running I built mine more modular ” Lemler bolted the hopper to the hearth and it in turn is bolted to the gas cowlings This lets him take the hearth off pull the grate and access the woodgas reduction area He replaced the original water heater tank hearth with stainless steel and reduced the number of bars in the stationary grate to reduce bridging in the hopper Other changes included increasing the size of the woodgas reduction area under the hearth from about 2 in deep to about 6 in The Mother Earth News design runs the woodgas through water to cool and clean it Lemler uses a bat of fiberglass insulation 1 to 1 1/2 ft thick “When it gets filled up with soot I just replace it and burn the dirty one ” he says “It’s a hot filter that doesn’t retain moisture for the soot to stick to and plug it up I put 3 layers of fine expanded metal on the bottom to work as a spark arrester and one piece on top to keep the vacuum from sucking the fiberglass into the intake ” While soot in the carburetor of his woodgas fueled truck needs to be cleaned out periodically it hasn’t been a problem in the tractor “With the simple carburetor in the tractor it just drops right through ” he says “I’ve been running it for 3 years now and have had no problems It runs as well as the first day I started it ” One drawback to the woodgas burner is the space it takes up Lemler says he had to get used to the blind spot created “I could have made it smaller but with it at this size I can run it for 3 1/2 hours at pto speed ” he says “The fuel hopper holds about 80 lbs of wood ” Lemler stresses that he only made changes after he had built his first wood gas burner exactly to plan “I’ve never stuck an engine or ruined one when I stayed with the plan ” he says “You can trash out an engine in 10 min if you don’t know what you are doing After you learn the nature and process of working with woodgas you can make changes ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Lemler Pallet Inc 9200 N Apple Rd Bourbon Ind 46504 ph 574 646-2707; lempal@rocketmail com

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