# My old shtf vehicle



## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

Back in my younger and crazy days I drove this around town, an ex-military 1974 Blazer,350,dual exhaust, Dana transfer case with a winch ,which I had to removed because lack of used in the city life. It was fun but as a shtf vehicle it had a very large foot print, heavy and not to friendly in fuel ,what I really wanted was a m151 but to late for tears now.:gaah:


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## HamiltonFelix (Oct 11, 2011)

I'll bet you still miss the Blazer.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

HamiltonFelix said:


> I'll bet you still miss the Blazer.


Sure enough... or it would have never been mentioned here!

Was that winch driven by the PTO on the side of the transfer case? Man, that would have been nice to have!!


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Nice truck, can't find them anymore but...

A little dusty now but last winter this was the "Big Project". Farm truck, 94 silverado with computer controlled ignition timing and fuel injection, a throttlebody.

It now has no electronic controls, just an old fashioned carburetor and vacuum timing. I’m welding up a gasifier this winter. I’m going to run this truck on wood chips. Over 1 million vehicles were converted to run on chips during ww2 in Europe because of fuel shortages.

True story… a relative in combat in france, 1944. His unit tried to commandeer a truck in a village. They had to give it back when they realized it ran on woodchips instead of fuel. None of them knew how to fire up a gasifier. Too funny! 

For any purist out there… Yes, that is ford blue paint on a chevy small block engine. 5 years ago when I picked up the short block to build the engine… The only engine paint the store had was ford blue!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Cotton said:


> I'm going to run this truck on wood chips.


Have you been following Wayne Keith's progress? 
The man is probably more successful doing this than anyone in the country (woodgas has a TON of disadvantages). Also search for Mike LaRosa, that guy is VERY friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.

http://www.woodgas.net/wayne_keith.html

http://www.woodgas.net/mike_larosa.html

http://driveonwood.com/

http://driveonwood.com/blogs/mike-larosa/mike-larosa-linden-wisconsin

http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/wood-gas-zm0z12amzroc.aspx#axzz2hsxpLxuu

http://www.ag.auburn.edu/agrn/bio-truck/


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Thanks for the links! I never heard of this guy but will look into it.

Yes, we are aware of the disadvantages. This project has been 15 years in the making. Our goal to produce 1000 rolls of hay a year in a no diesel/gasoline situation. Our most abundant resource is wood. This truck is just a small test.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Cotton said:


> This project has been 15 years in the making. Our goal to produce 1000 rolls of hay a year in a no diesel/gasoline situation.


Hmmm.... if it were me I would go back to the days of hauling loose hay and storing it in stacks and in the hayloft. Round balers are very maintenance heavy and you may find it is a lot easier to "haul the hay to the machine" (like the old stationary hay balers) than it is to "haul the machine around the hayfield" like we do now.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

In the real world situation I’m sure we’ll end up using various methods and equipment. All of which require horsepower, even the 4 footed variety! Thankfully I’m not alone. I’ve a few like minded neighbors who farm, been restoring old equipment for several years. I restored the rake and mower my grandfather pulled with mules.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Stationary engines running on wood gas have been around for over a century. We can fall back on that technology pretty easily.


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