McCORMICK FARMALL M – Charcoal burner – c. 1952

WA Distributors (1956): State Branch of International Harvester Company of Australia, 789 -795, Wellington Street, Perth.  

The charcoal gas producer attached to this tractor was designed and built in 1994 by Mr Frank Hayward of Serpentine. Frank constructed the gas producer based on his experience with similar producers used on tractors during his farming days in the wheatbelt.

Together with his wife Joy, they farmed in the Quairading district and through the necessities of farming in the early years, were forced to look at alternative fuels to run farm machinery, especially during the War years.

The Gas Producer is attached to a McCormick Deering International M Rowcrop petrol standard tractor. The Gas Producer is based on the principle that burning the charcoal in an enclosed container will result in a flammable gas that can be directed through a condenser purifier and into the fuel system to take the place of petrol.

The tractor is started on petrol in the normal way and a fire is lit under the grate in the Gas Producer. The suction from the engine draws the flame into the generator and ignites the charcoal. When the fire in the charcoal has built up to 1 cubic foot in the generator, the gas starts to form as the air is drawn through it. The gas is then pulled through a cleaning filter on its way to the engine. A gas throttle controls the speed of the engine and the air inlet controls and regulates the amount of air that is mixed with the gas to make the engine run smoothly.

With the excessive dust in the charcoal, the filter needs to be cleaned every day. The tractor can run successfully all day on about 50kg of charcoal which is obtained by burning wood in a furnace with a limited amount of draft.

Note:  Frank fitted a 12V electric blower to speed up the production of sufficient gas in the shortest possible time to prepare the tractor for starting.