Pickup Truck Runs on Wood
Here's one way to beat high gas prices, especially if you happen to own a few forested acres: Convert your vehicle to a wood burner.
This story comes compliments of The Birmingham News and tells about Wayne Keith and his "faded red pickup" that runs almost totally on wood.
Mr. Keith, who lives in a log house on a cattle and hay farm and has his own sawmill, "is a member of a very elite fraternity--a man satisfied with his fuel costs," says the story.
"Last Christmas, he took a 1984 diesel truck and replaced its motor with a 1968 hot-rod engine with more horsepower. He then devised a wood-burning system with cooling and filtering units attached at the hood and in the pickup bed.
"Keith estimates he has driven 4,000 miles since he converted the truck. The engine, which runs on hydrogen generated by burning the wood, is clean enough that Keith proudly shows off the spark plugs to the curious.
"'Looks like they just came out of the box,' he said.
"He keeps a 30-gallon trash can in the bed, filled with wood pieces that have already been burned to remove water. Keith fills a 6-foot reactor in the truck bed with wood, then starts up the engine. It still takes some gas to get the truck going, but within two minutes, the only fuel is wood. ...
"... The pickup has three pedals - brake, gas and wood. The farthest he has driven the truck is 100 miles in a day.
"'It takes about 20 pounds of wood to do what one gallon of gas will do,' he said. 'But when I burn off the wood, you get the same emission you'd get if the wood just deteriorated on its own. You can't say that about fossil fuels. "
The story does point out that the truck's driving mechanism is complicated, and that Mr. Keith admits that most people would never be able to drive it unless they were mechanics who also understood physics. However,
"'It's a cheap ride,' [Keith] said. 'I've got about three acres up here, which means I've got enough fuel to do me for the rest of my natural life.'
Tags: wood trucks cars vehicles transportation gas gasoline energy oil news alternatives energy Alabama Birmingham inventors inventions technology hydrogen hybrids transport weird mechanics
This story comes compliments of The Birmingham News and tells about Wayne Keith and his "faded red pickup" that runs almost totally on wood.
Mr. Keith, who lives in a log house on a cattle and hay farm and has his own sawmill, "is a member of a very elite fraternity--a man satisfied with his fuel costs," says the story.
"Last Christmas, he took a 1984 diesel truck and replaced its motor with a 1968 hot-rod engine with more horsepower. He then devised a wood-burning system with cooling and filtering units attached at the hood and in the pickup bed.
"Keith estimates he has driven 4,000 miles since he converted the truck. The engine, which runs on hydrogen generated by burning the wood, is clean enough that Keith proudly shows off the spark plugs to the curious.
"'Looks like they just came out of the box,' he said.
"He keeps a 30-gallon trash can in the bed, filled with wood pieces that have already been burned to remove water. Keith fills a 6-foot reactor in the truck bed with wood, then starts up the engine. It still takes some gas to get the truck going, but within two minutes, the only fuel is wood. ...
"... The pickup has three pedals - brake, gas and wood. The farthest he has driven the truck is 100 miles in a day.
"'It takes about 20 pounds of wood to do what one gallon of gas will do,' he said. 'But when I burn off the wood, you get the same emission you'd get if the wood just deteriorated on its own. You can't say that about fossil fuels. "
The story does point out that the truck's driving mechanism is complicated, and that Mr. Keith admits that most people would never be able to drive it unless they were mechanics who also understood physics. However,
"'It's a cheap ride,' [Keith] said. 'I've got about three acres up here, which means I've got enough fuel to do me for the rest of my natural life.'
Tags: wood trucks cars vehicles transportation gas gasoline energy oil news alternatives energy Alabama Birmingham inventors inventions technology hydrogen hybrids transport weird mechanics
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