Enlighten me. Never heard of it unless its related to making liquor. I come from a long line of, uh, shall we say liquor makers.

Cheers,

Bill

You would have to have a smoldering fire burning somewhere in/about the car, so that you can harness the wood gas, and then figure out how to mix it. If you live in the city, you're going to have to buy firewood.

I have no idea how many miles per cord you would get either.

__________________
It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so. Robert A. Heinlein


09 Jetta TDI
1985 300D

I think that works in the short term, but unless you treat these cars as disposable you will eventually spend significant money on maintenance. Over the long term, my maintenance costs are just about the same as my fuel costs (around $.10-.15 per mile).

I have some expensive hobbies-this is nothing. Payed $4000 for a car.Saved around $1400 in fuel costs.Have only spent $200 in repairs in 14000 miles.This is nothing.

That's probably about what I spent in the first 14K miles, too. Get back to me in another 150K miles and let me know what you've spent.

This is the best woodgas article I've seen.
http://members.tripod.com/~highforest/woodgas/woodfired.html

There were thousands of these in use during WWII. They have been used for automobiles, buses, semis, even trains. I believe they were mostly junked immediately when gasoline became available. The Mother Earth News made some for automotive and sawmill use in the late 1970s. I have a copy of the plans they published. I met a guy who built one with some friends in California around that time. His comment was, "Forget it, a big hassle, weighs a ton, etc. PITA etc." Definitely not something you fire up for a quick trip to the corner store. But they can be rigged for a combination of gasoline and woodgas. ( Light the fire, start up on gasoline and switch to woodgas when the fire is going; step on the gas(oline) pedal for more power on hills.) They can be used with diesels if you inject a trace of diesel fuel. I have more info if anybody wants to PM me. Steve

I bought a 190E 2.3-16 valve. Well almost.

__________________
Adam Lumsden
(83) 300D
Vice-President of the MBCA International Stars Section

Now with the introduction of USLD diesel fuel prices have no where to go but up. http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/presentations/2006/ethanol/ethanol0806_files/frame.html

If your blending 50/50 or more your cost is less than or about equal to 1/2 of pump price. At 50/50 that's fuel prices of 2002! Not getting what your beef is?

__________________
1999 E300DT (131,800) 154,000 Black on Black SOLD

2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

How to eliminate oil dependency through market-driven approaches.
“We could cut oil use in half by 2025, and by 2040, oil use could be zero,”
The Sound of Diesel Speed
Ode to MB

As individuals or as a group, there's not much that we can do to directly affect the retail price of petroleum products. However, some of us can feel better if we remember that --

1. Diesel prices in the west are at or over $3.00 a gallon, so $2.85 looks good.
2. Biodiesel, which I use whenever I can, is $3.97 here in Santa Rosa and at least $3.37 in southern Oregon, the same as petro diesel, when I was there a week ago. That makes $2.85 look even better.

But I didn't buy a Mercedes to save money. I could have bought a lot of RUG for the $5900 I paid for my Benz. I bought the diesel so I could make a small contribution to reducing our dependence on imported oil, by using biodiesel. Everyone can't do that, yet. I hope to see wider availability nationwide in the next few years. It's not a panacea but it's better than nothing.

Jeremy

__________________

"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

my dad is a trucker and it costs him with the company fuel card 800$ to fill up both 125 gallon tanks... truckers dont care about the price the price is offloaded on us, i have been saying for years there should be a private use non commercial fuel and a commercial grade fuel and off road fuel... then all would be happy

Beef is I've got one car that I use the RUG/WVO blend in and then I've got 3 other diesels that I have to buy from the pump to keep them fed.

And with the colder weather at our doorstep my WVO blending days are coming to a halt. Did the freezer test and got peanut butter. Tested blend was 1 gal. RUG/6oz. cetane boost and antigel/startron and then about 4 gallons WVO. Been told it is tallow causing the peanut butter.
Kinda off the subject but is that correct? Is it tallow?Oh....am running a 1 tank unheated system. Never have blended diesel in with the WVO blend. have been told wax can form???
Sorry...I know some of you are sick of WVO talk. I would rather ask than experiment.

Cheers,

Bill

Its been lowering here in the SF bay area. Diesel was priced at $3.19 for the longest time and RUG was at $2.99. Now diesel is the same at the shell and chevron $2.99/gal same as gas. ULSD too!

Recently ive been able to afford paying for ULSD, I get a $50 cash bonus at my work. $50 fills the tank and lasts me 2 weeks....i get paid every two weeks

The numbers work out great for me!

__________________
Current:
05 E320 CDI
07 GL320 CDI
08 Sprinter
05 Dodge Cummins
01 Dodge Cummins

Previous
2004 E55 AMG
2002 C32 AMG (#2)
1995 E300
1978 300D
1987 300D
2002 C32 AMG(blown motor :[
1981 300SD
1983 300SD
1987 300SDL
2002 Jetta TDI
1996 S420
1995 S500
1993 190E 2.6
1992 190E 2.3
1985 190E 2.3 5-Speed

last issue of Mercedes Classics had an article on a mercedes with a gassifier .. the owner said he has to clean the gassifier soot bag out every 80 miles or something.. it was in the last issue or the one before it.. cant rember sorry

I've been blending for 3+ years. The last 1 to 1 1/2 yrs I have been blending with diesel (in a 617 and now a 602) I run 50/50 until temps start getting cold then I add 1 gal of RUG to 10gal of blend(along with cetane boost,etc...). Never have even plugged a filter! Of course my 602 has the heated fuel option, how much it helps I don't know? I also have very clean oil filtered to at least 1 micron. Is your truck IDI or DI?

If your blending 80/20 with RUG and it's clumping up, it's an oil quality issue.
You may want to winterize your oil before you use it.

__________________
1999 E300DT (131,800) 154,000 Black on Black SOLD

2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

How to eliminate oil dependency through market-driven approaches.
“We could cut oil use in half by 2025, and by 2040, oil use could be zero,”
The Sound of Diesel Speed
Ode to MB

I think what we are talking about is the price of diesel relative to the price of gasoline. As sulfur is an additive to diesel and not a byproduct of refining, ULSD should not cost more.

For 60 years diesel was cheaper than gasoline. It's the difference in price that is my beef here. If gas $3/diesel $3, fine. it's gas $3 diesel $4 which makes no sense, seeing as in the 1960s diesel was 1/2 the price of gas. We're using less heating oil than we used to, so I want an explanation other than greed.

Otherwise I will get a 1 micron filter and sell a bunch of trans fluid changes, and burn the used ATF. I'm not kidding.