December 11, 2025 – For this past year, Inventor Rob Gourley embodied Benjamin Franklin’s timeless quote in the title above. His mission is to get a major “energy” machine, originally manufactured for him in Colorado, to operate on all four cylinders … actually all four “cells” not “cylinders” are needed to efficiently produce DiTetra Gas. For years, this machine was mothballed at the manufacturer’s facility due to both hardware complications and software mysteries.
Our original software engineer, Matt Mossman, tragically passed away from COVID complications. With his loss, the knowledge behind the system’s complex electrical platform and custom software was basically unknown by other technicians. Over a year ago, we arranged for the machine to be shipped to Florida so Rob could begin his methodical way to diagnosis and repair the inoperable machine. We even hired a local software expert, talented but ultimately unable to unravel Matt’s original design.
So, Rob—an “old-school” mechanical engineer with a bit of MacGyver in his DNA—dove in himself. He refitted essential parts, fabricating custom replacements when original “off-the-shelf” components failed. That construction effort alone stretched over months.
Next came the software. Rob received a set of intricate AutoCAD drawings pulled from the manufacturer’s archives—more like hieroglyphics to Rob. Still, he persevered. He made phone calls to the computer manufacturer and even hosted their technicians who traveled across the State of Florida to meet him at the Ranch. After lots of technical efforts by the experts, Rob went back to what he does best as a long-time mechanical engineer before mainstream computers: trial-and-error and pure persistence, rearranging electrical connections and running countless tests.
He kept a Plan B in his back pocket: pulling the entire electrical platform out and converting the machine to a simpler manual system, similar to the other 80-cell WIT machines he had already built and successfully operate in bottling plants.
Where most people would have given up—frustrated or simply defeated—Rob refused to quit. Day after day, week after week, he pushed forward. And finally, this week, he achieved the moment he had been working toward for more than a year: all four operating systems lit up and ran harmoniously together.
The machine is now fully functional, producing DiTetra Gas that Rob pipelined into over 300 gallons of carbon-based fuel to enhance engine combustion and performance. This was a milestone worthy of celebration.
I realize my temperament differs from Rob’s. He approaches every problem with a kind of innate courage—an unwavering belief that everything has a rational explanation, that nothing in the world is truly abnormal, and that solutions are always within reach if someone keeps looking. I, by contrast, sometimes feel mentally boxed in by invisible boundaries. The thought of tackling a software program feels like it might make my brain explode!
But Rob reminds me—every day—that energy and persistence really can conquer all things.