HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1987-03-18, Page 43Second Section
Wednesday, M
rch 18, 1987
Ashfie!d farmer ,builds woodburning tractor
- ByAlanRivett
• For area parade -goers, the `site, of one•
p'articul' tractor huffing and puffing up
- the pa -rade route always brings some in-
' quisitive looks at_ the -odd-looking attach-
ment whichmakes this tractor a real rari,
t_y. - -
The tractorin question, a blue 1946 Ford -
son Major, is not unique so much for. it's
.antique status, but for the unusual type of
fuel it runs oil.
• The tractor is wood -powered through an
attachment devised by its owner Ashfield
Township farmer Marinus `'Reis" Milten-
burg. Since finishing the restoration work
of the tractor which runs on wood. chips in
the summer of 1985; the tractor has been
- displayed in parades all over this area. in -
•eluding last year's Lucknow Fall Fair
Parade, and the Colborne -and Port Albert
-.anniversary celebrations. •
However, •Mr. Miltenburg says that
some people are skeptical that the tractor
can actually run on the woodchips. . •
"A lot o, f people
don't believe it"
"A lot of people don't believe it. They
` think you put something else in there [ the
gas tank i besides wood._ They think it runs .
on wood alcohol • or that it's a steam
s engine," said Mr. Miltenburg.
Mr. Miltenburg, a• tinkerer by .nature.
said he bought two of the old Fordson Ma-
.jor tractors two years' ago from tractor
"dealer Stewart Heavie with both, tractors
'badly siezed up. It wasn't until August of
1984, that the idea to fix one of the tractors
and use the concept of wood fuel to make it
run, was made a• reality:. With the help .of
Sons Ben and Maurice, the tractor was.
ready`by the summer of 1985 to 1'u1fil Mr.
Miltenburg's goal - to Show -the -tractor in
the 'area parades.-
Used during Second -World War -
Mr. Miltenburg says gas -burning trac-
tors were' converted to Wood use -during the
Second World War as gasoline was vitually
• non-existant at that time in his . native
Holland.. The special attachment which
would allow gas engines to be adapted to
wood was developed in the universities in
Holland and thespecialwood attachments,
were manufactured and given to people•to.
attach to their vehicles.
"W.e had them t`woodburning tractor's)
• , in the Old Country during the War in 1945.
. There was no.as ration in Europe and
- Holland, so it was- all done by wood.- The_
buses, ears and •trucks were set up for
woodburning, even c for some time.) after
the war, . .
"When gas became available• after. the.
war, people • just . cut- them + the at-
tachments i off and threw them in the •
ditch," said Mr: Miltenburg.
-When starting to fix the tractor and
make it run on wood, Mr.Miltenburg-said
he had no blueprints in order to build the
woodburning attachment, " but only a
• knowledge of how they worked and how to
repair them.When they were in use during
the war. •
For some time before going ahead with
the restoration of the tractor without a
blueprint. he contacted a brother in
Holland who searched all over Holland and
France to find the blueprints for the at-
tachment, but to no avail. "The govern-
ment in Holland had kept the blueprints for
30 years. They -had since been thrown out,"
he said; adding that after the project was
completed he received -a book written in
Dutch detailing the raking of the wood -
burning attachment.
How does the woodburning tractor
work? The wood chips are dumped into a
iron "bunker" or "fuel chamber" which
was fashioned by the Miltenburgs with -the
help of local welder George Sinyth.• When
the weather's cold a small quantity of gas
is used to start the engine. "After that, it
•
runs solely on wood." he said.
The wood gas built up in the fuel
chamber then is transferred through a
Woodburning attachment
charcoal filter and on into the two separate
radiators which attempts to cool the ex-
tremely hot methane -hydrogen mixture in
order to get the maximum amount of
power. After -the gas exits the radiators. it
goes through another filter. oddly enough.
made of pine .cones which are changed
every 10 to 12 hours to avoid a build-up of
creosote. a tar -like substance ac-
cumulated through wood burning. The gas
then goes through a modified carburetor
and finally into the engine.
Mr. Miltenburg says that the tractor has
run for upwards of seven to eight hours in a
stretch and, during that time. only used
about four burlap bags full of wood which
translates into about 25 to 30 pounds of
wood per hour.
"It's not a lot of wood to use," he said.
adding that small blocks of wood have to
be used in order for the wood to burn
completely.
However, the tractor is not completely
for show purposes. On some occasions,
says Mr. Miltenburg. he will start it,and
move machinery with it or haul a load of
'hay with it. "But, just for fun," he said.
Reis Miltenburg, an Ashfield Township farmer, built a woodburn-
ing.mechanism which runs this, antique Fordson Major tractor in
the summer of 1985. Also.helping with the project were his sons Ben
( pictured here) and Maurice. ( Alan Rivett photo I