Air Cooled Diesel Engine

[oneparsec]

What are the pros and cons of air cooled diesel engine?

 

[Egon]

It may be harder to heat the cab but then you don't have to worry about sterile ground.

 

[RPW]

From what I've seen on the Internet the HP is on the low side (most likely a heat related issue) but for special purpose constant power i.e. an irrigation pump would probably be ok. For a variable demand (tractor) may not be the best choice.

 

[DmansPadge]

I think the biggest pro would be not having a cooling system to fail/maintain. And the con being shorter engine life.

 

[radman1]

I had an air cooled deutz (sp?) engine in by prior bobcat skid steer. Oil changes required a good amount of oil and a fair amount of old oil was left in the oil cooler with each change.

 

[woodlandfarms]

The Power-Trac series (larger) are powered by a Deutz Oil Cooled (Air Cooled) engine. I do not know of any diesel engine that is purely air cooled (like a motorcycle engine) but that for sure does not mean it does not exist.

Like any engine, it is how your support it as much as the engine itself. The Deutz engine used by PT is rock solid. Pretty darn bullet proof. But, PT uses the stock oil cooler, one for an engine that is stationary, like a water pump. So it quickly clogs with dust and debris. as the engine blows unfiltered air through it.

Any tractor will have this issue, and keeping whatever radiator you have clean is essential for proper maintenance. PT just chose to not improve or review the design, so it is a bone of contention with owners with a machine that is VERY versatile.

With oil Cooled essentially it is only one system to maintain, and less moving parts to fail. It does not suffer from freezing or rusting out, and would not have the additional weight and space if that might be a factor.

I see no cons per se. No more than any other engine.

 

[Redneck in training]

Air-cooled engines beat liquid cooled in hot climate. If the air temperature goes up the temperature of the air-cooled engine also increases little bit and since it dissipates more heat its temperature stabilizes at higher level. If liquid engine gets overloaded it starts boiling and its temperature runs up until destruction.
Isn't it true that most diesels (and many gas engines) have at least the pistons oil cooled?

 

[Redneck in training]

It may be harder to heat the cab but then you don't have to worry about sterile ground.

The trucks made by Tatra Czech republic has separate diesel fuel heater (furnace) for the cabin. It could also heat the engine without running it. Especially usefull in Siberia. The trucks for Siberia also had double glass windows and thermally isulated cabin. In addition to it they had heated dumper bed by the exhaust gases.

http://www.tatra.cz/en/down/profil_EN.pdf

 

[lawn_king]

Air cooled diesels are very loud!

 

[DGS]

My neighbour has a Belarus 250 that has an air cooled engine and he likes it
It doesn't seem any louder than my Kubota when running but I like a diesel sound anyway as I have worked around them for more than 45 yrs.
He likes the idea of no coolant to worry about but the fan is run by a belt that is bit knarly to replace
Other than that there seems to be no difference in operating,PTO,driving etc.
Regards and Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends
DGS