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Hello Everyone:

I am looking at converting a used car or truck engine to use as a stationary power unit to power a sawmill.  Can anyone tell me what the best engine would be for this type of application and how I could govern an engine like this?  I was thinking about using a ford 300 6cyl engine but would there be a better option and again, how do I govern it?

I am looking for an engine that would be approximately 90-150 hp or more.

Thank you and I greatly appreciate the help anyone can be to me in this search.

NMFP  

ford 300-6 motors are very durable..  will run for days on end...   were available as fuel injected up to 1996 or 1997..

if you can only find a later model fuel injected motor..
you can pick up one of the aftermarket intake manifolds from clifford performance.. that will give you a holley flange mount for a 4 barrel carb..  with that .. you could either mount a small holley 4 bbl carb.. like a 390 CFM version..

or with an adaptor plate.. any number of one barrel carbs.. or even the ultra durable and easy to maintain motorcraft 2100 2 barrel carbs...

how to govern it.. is beyond my knowledge of automotive carbs.. there are governor equipped holley 2300G  2 barrel carbs and 4150G 4 barrel carbs  that were on many engines in the 60's and 70's .. used on medium duty trucks.. so some carb shops might have one laying around..


its easy to add a throttle stop on the throttle linkage...

there are also some interesting devices from a company called dedenbear

http://www.dedenbear.com/thrtl_cat.htm

they have throttle stops...

a company called msd sells ignition boxes that have RPM limiter plug in modules.. that randomly cancel a spark when the rpm limit is reached..  and they do work... the random part keeps the spark plugs from fouling..

there was a fellow on another forum. built a 512 inch big block mopar.. it would only go to 4000 rpms.. no matter what he did..  you could here the engine in the video come up to the rev limiter. and still make a ton of power. but would not go any faster..

there is a chance you could use a restrictor plate limit power..

you might want also to look at how the air compressor applications that use the ford 6 govern the rpms.  as the compressor cycles on and off..


a bunch of years ago.. i ran into a fellow in the firewood business.. i had been thinking of the home delivered trees that get paint marked and cut up then split..

i told him my idea of a flat bed mounted firewood saw mill..   using a logging truck tractor with the mounted logging crane..  some kind of rollers to keep the log moving to a stop.. a cut off saw to take a measured slice...  the cut piece drops into a multibladed log splitter..  from there it drops onto portable hydraulic driven conveyor belts to move the split wood to where somebody would stack it without having to carry it far..

he mentioned that he had all that equipment in his yard.. just not assembled like that..  but with that.. he could go through a years seasoned logs in a month..   he would only have green wood to cut.. i said. why not try to buy the giant autoclave from the closed lumber mill about 10 miles from there..  use it to vacuum down the green logs to remove moisture .  i then described how he could modify an engine into a vacuum pump to pump the air out.. without needing to buy a massive vacuum pump..

i lost his card.. so i don't know what happened..  i have seen similar smaller machine now.. so i guess my idea spread..  

you might look around for a used trailer rotary screw air compressor..  as that will have a governor controlled engine..  some can be had really cheep...  might save you a LOT of time..

or even a concrete pump trailer.. as they are built to work all day with tons of hydraulic flow.. you could use that flow to power your saw mill..   if you can find a hydraulic motor to match the blade requirements..

or just use the motor assembly from it to directly power the saw mill..

digging into the gas powered air compressor service manuals or talking to some of their mechanics might do you better than i have done.. with all my finger motion..