I read a book a while back called Mission to Tashkent about a British secret agent in India and Asia around 1918 investigating the Bolshevik government of Tashkent. In it he talks about the partisans or insurgents or what ever you want to call them who assisted him. One of the the things he describes are charcoal powered trucks they use since petroleum is too difficult to obtain. I saw the concept again recently in one of Bill Mauldin's cartoons in his book "Army" and decided to look it up and see what I could learn about the concept.

I didn't find much, a few articles in Mother Earth News about a wood gasification plant modification for a normal internal combustion engine. They don't provide plans, but they do have a fairly detailled description of what they built along with critiques of what worked well and what didn't. I also found a few news articles about people who've done similar things. These gasification trucks are complicated though and require a pretty thorough knowledge of the processes involved and mechanics. So that idea is kind of out the window for a survival vehicle in the face of gasoline shortages. But I ask, why does it have to be such a complicated machine. Couldn't a person with average ability to build things build a steam power plant wood or charcoal burning vehicle. In the short term the idea is a bust, too dirty and clumsy. But after few months of having no gasoline to power your car or truck the idea might start to have some appeal. You probably wouldn't get much power or speed out of it, but it could sure beat walking especially if you have a load to carry. If you were really worried about gasoline being unavailible your best bet is probably to buy a team of mules and a cart, not to build a wood powered car, but the option is there if you need it.

Does anyone have any experiance with these contraptions or have any ideas about building one.

Have you seen this?
Woodgas Yugo

I'm assuming anything with electronic fuel injection couldn't be converted. You'd need some older-model car. I wonder if converting something like a riding lawnmower might be easier?

-Blast

Up in Canada they have a lot of propane-power vehicles. I wonder if converting one of them might also be easier. This idea has caught my fancy, though I don't have the skills to do any true experimention in it. It really seems like all you need is a gastight chamber, wood, heat, and a way to mix the woodgas and air in the cylinders.

-Blast

I really should be working but instead I found this .

-Blast

The yugo was exactly what I found. It seems like far too much trouble for much more then an experiment, or a very long term option. But if you do need to do it, its best to have the plans to do it before you need to since the internet will have disappeared by the time you do.

It was a reasonably common conversion on vehicles in France and Belgium during WW2, both internal and external combustion. Many people died from boiler explosions, and was quickly abandoned after petrol again became available.