Hello Gentlemen,
About these vehicles with these bizarre tanks / vessels behind the cabs, I can share some personal observations following participation some years back to an excellent classic tractors show in my homeplace Switzerland.
I found this pre-WWII Ford tractor intriguing - why would anyone bother with such large tanks on either side…
It was impossible to climb onto the seat sideways.
Interestingly, a massive amount of heat was radiating from the large tank on the left hand side.
The owner suddenly appeared and was much willing to talk me through this brilliant technology.
Basically she runs on the highly flammable fumes generated by the charcoal contained in the large vessel.
These are the same gases that produce the blue flames coming off the charcoal in a barbecue. In French this technology is called “gazogene” which I think in English translates to wood gas generator or gasifier.
During WWII, there were chronic shortages of petroleum fuel and so the easiest alternative was simply wood of which France has never been short.
Here he tried to ignite these fumes however the system was still building up and it took a few more minutes until the trick worked.
Getting ready
And here is the result!
The gases are basically captured from the charcoal tank straight into the inlet manifold and into the cylinders.
She was a real ■■■■■■■ to start up somehow. I was concerned for the guy’s ankle or something. If the lever suddenly gave it could have been quite painful!
Here is some more on this technology.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas_generator
Sleep well all of you gents