<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by ssgharkness020147:
Hey Fred,
Actually yes I have been considering jumping on the Bio-diesel bandwagon. I have begun to research the process and equiptment I would need to begin making it. Did you buy you station for making bio or did you make it? How does bio work for you in the winter? I see that you're from Beloit, do you wheel you're truck, if so where do you head out to? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I made my distillery. Four 55 gallon drums, some hose and an electric transfer pump from Harbor Freight, and a water strainer, a 10 micron filter and a 5 micron filter. The barrels you can get at a scrap metal yard, the rest at harbor freight or a Home Depot type place.
The harder part was fabricating the tank for the land cruiser-- which comes to your other question-- winter. Commercial Biodiesel that you buy has better cold weather properties than the home made stuff, and to my knowledge is just liek regular diesel... The homemade stuff will congeal at room temperature. SO what you do is you weld a copper or aluminum coil into the tank you use for the grease diesel. You then run antifreeze from the engine thru that coil to preheat the fuel and make it nice and free flowing. You need to start the truck on regular diesel fuel until it warms up to operating temperature, then switch over to the grease. 5 minutes before you get where you're going, switch back to Dino diesel to flush out the system.
I bought the seperate extended range fuel tank for the Land Cruiser that was common on non-US vehicles and goes where the spare tire did on US models (under the truck in front of the rear bumper). I had a skilled welder cut the tank in half, weld in the coils and weld the tank back together. This was more costly than buying a pre made kit, but I did not lose any cargo space, since the tank was factory fitted to my truck.
Clearly, you will want to have a good water strainer with a indicator light on the line in case the heating coil breaks one day... Also, a good 10 and maybe a 5 micron filter in the line as well.
I have about 30 gallons of plain Diesel fuel in the main tank, and then another 20 of grease in the extended tank.
I do wheel, and I don't. THis year I don't cause my truck is finally undergoing frame off rebuild. After 22 years, the rust has gotten to it. No surprise there, the Land Cruisers were notorius rust buckets...
A friend of mine who owns two jeeps has 25 acres of forest land that we use as a "test track" of sorts to play around, test out new mods, etc... My uncle is a logger in the UP of Michigan and I oft times will go up there and drive around some logging trails.
My wife and I are both in the scientific field, and we are planing on doing lots of field work, thus, our cruiser is outfitted as a long-range expedition truck-- We enjoy our long trips along the Al-Can Highway, and are planning a trip to Costa Rica once the Cruiser is back in one piece. We chose the cruiser specifically since it is big enough for our equipment and gear, tough enough to take whatever you can dish out, a very capable off roader, and parts are readily available in most countries to affect any repairs necessary. So we aren't "recreational" off roaders strictly speaking, we just end up doing a lot of it as part of our trips.
Anytime you're around Beloit though, drop me a line and if the Cruiser is back together, we can do some wheeling.
Fred