Converting a truck to Propane or Natural Gas

[peternap]

I know I'm going to get answers here

I have an F150 that I use as a farm truck and it needs a fuel pump now.

Many years ago, I ran out of gas in the mountains in my old truck (It had a carburetor) I had a tank of propane and ran the line into the acrb and drove to the nearest station just using the valve on the tank to control my speed.

Why couldn't I do the same thing with the fuel injected F150?
I was thinking of running a line to the air intake...

Ideas Please

OH...please don't discuss legalities. This is just discussion for enlightenment. I wouldn't think of really doing it

[Squirl]

Maybe.  I would want the line as close to the valves as possible.  I would also want a flashback arrestor.  Most people use carbureted vehicles for throttle control.

[gandalfthegrey]

I used to drive an old van that was dual fuel   gas/Propane. That was in the early 80s.  As I recall there was na electric switch under the dash that allowed going from one the other. I believe it had a closed carb system. It was a Ford van.

[pmichelsen]

My dad's old work truck (F150) ran on CNG. But I think most gov't/city/county vehicles do.

[rick91351]

As far as I know there are still conversion kits on the market.  I do know there are several garages here that do the conversion.  Most if not all are dual fuel, start on gasoline and then flip a switch and the propane fuel is introduced and the gasoline of course is shut off.  The older systems was a valve on the dash board or floor board you manually turned.  Seems on those there was also something you pushed or opened to shut off something like the amount of air into the carburetor.

I do remember two things one they were never as powerful on propane as gas.  The other the owners were very paranoid about blowing the carburetor right off manifold if not done right - 'kid'.  "Kid you can blow the carburetor right through the hood."  When they would rant about that.  I knew I did not want a thing to do with one.  That and no power of course....    

         

[glenn kangiser]

I had several drilling vehicles that ran on propane - all had kits to run on propane.....but...

I want to see you make it run on wood --- and other solid fuel....

I have this idea of running downtown in my woodburner, parking by the sidewalk... eating a banana and throwing the peel in the woodburner then driving off.  You usually leave a woodburner idling to keep from having to re-light it.  

Haven't got around to doing it yet though.

[peternap]

I had several drilling vehicles that ran on propane - all had kits to run on propane.....but...

I want to see you make it run on wood --- and other solid fuel....

I have this idea of running downtown in my woodburner, parking by the sidewalk... eating a banana and throwing the peel in the woodburner then driving off.  You usually leave a woodburner idling to keep from having to re-light it.  

Haven't got around to doing it yet though.

Been thinking about it Glenn. I just haven't figured the filter out yet.

[glenn kangiser]

Wood chips - run through a filter of wood chips and the soot will collect on it then you burn them later.  Possible a secondary filter after that.

[waggin]

I had several drilling vehicles that ran on propane - all had kits to run on propane.....but...

I want to see you make it run on wood --- and other solid fuel....

I have this idea of running downtown in my woodburner, parking by the sidewalk... eating a banana and throwing the peel in the woodburner then driving off.  You usually leave a woodburner idling to keep from having to re-light it.  

Haven't got around to doing it yet though.

I'm kinda partial to Mr. Fusion:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMiNaqd4D-E
(start at 1:00 if you want to get right to it.)

[rwanders]

 

During WWII in Britain, many of the cabs and other vehicles were woodburners---they had a gasification chamber mounted on the back of the vehicle---wood was "burned" slowly and the off-gases were piped through a filter and into the carburetor. when wood is burning, the flames we see are really flammable gases produced by the wood as it is heated. It probably took some delicate adjustments to keep the system balanced so it maintained the heat on the wood at a level to produce sufficient gas flow.

I have a friend now running a large version to both incinerate trees, limbs, and "yard wastes" from a county contract and uses the gas to generate electricity which he sells to the power company----paid by the county to take the debris and paid by the utility to burn it---a neat process. he does have to cover the cost of some fuel oil to initiate the transformation and maintain the gas production. He has about 1000 acres where he will utilize at least some of the ashes as fertilizer---the soil is pretty acidic so the ashes will do some good also.

[waggin]

20 miles per load of wood chips...approx. 25#
http://www.projo.com/projocars/content/ca_woodburningsuv_07-12-08_V7APDI8_v7.2ac8031.html

[glenn kangiser]

At last.. we agree on something RW.   

That is cool.  The ones I have studied up on have a throttle and air mixer so regulate pretty well.  They say to leave them idling when stopping for a bit to keep the gas flowing well, but they will restart after a short shutoff.

There is a family who I think are some kind of preachers in a van with a trailer and they have theirs running well - I think maybe Australia?

That is way cool that your friend has that gasifier running and making money off of it. 

[glenn kangiser]

20 miles per load of wood chips...approx. 25#
http://www.projo.com/projocars/content/ca_woodburningsuv_07-12-08_V7APDI8_v7.2ac8031.html

Great success story.  The kids at the Blue Ox Mill, Eureka, CA built one under the direction of the owner, Eric Hollenbeck.  It was a Pinto as I recall. 

[waggin]

Great success story.  The kids at the Blue Ox Mill, Eureka, CA built one under the direction of the owner, Eric Hollenbeck.  It was a Pinto as I recall. 

A Pinto?  Suppose converting it to being a wood-burner would take care of one issue.   

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT0J0rcJTLo