rockyridgefarm
Elite Member
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1785198594>Yikes!!</A>/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif
eBay/Craigslist Porsche Tractor on Ebay
- Thread starter rockyridgefarm
- Start date
ollo_ollo
New member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2002
- Messages
- 13
- Location
- Olympia, WA
- Tractor
- Mitsubishi MT20, 1956 MH Pacer, MTD 42" auto
I don't know if it was the same tractor but I saw one just like this at a tractor show in Roy, Washington a few years ago. Don
RoyJackson
Rest in Peace
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2001
- Messages
- 24,890
- Location
- Bethel, Vermont
- Tractor
- John Deere 4052R Cab,, Deere 855D UTV, Z920A Zero Turn Mower and assorted implements
I know Porsche built a few prototype tractors in the mid '50's.
I'm curious how well the air cooled diesel works. I know there are other air-cooled diesels available, but I wouldn't think a tractor would move fast enough for effective cooling. The air-cooled flat 6's in the 911's hold enough oil (in a dry sump tank) to make them as much oil cooled as air-cooled.
Well, if you think this is something...remember, Lamboghini builds tractors and got their start manufacturing oil furnaces.
I'm curious how well the air cooled diesel works. I know there are other air-cooled diesels available, but I wouldn't think a tractor would move fast enough for effective cooling. The air-cooled flat 6's in the 911's hold enough oil (in a dry sump tank) to make them as much oil cooled as air-cooled.
Well, if you think this is something...remember, Lamboghini builds tractors and got their start manufacturing oil furnaces.
OP
rockyridgefarm
Elite Member
There is a farm down the road where they are using an air cooled Deutz. I know they really like it, but I haven't seen it in action... Gets toasty here, in Oklahoma...
bgott
Veteran Member
There was an exhibitor at the car show here in Houston a couple of years ago that had three of those in a row. They were built in the fifties, according to her. She started one and that had to be the noisiest stinkingest diesel engine I've ever heard run.
frank_f15
Super Member, Rest in Peace
lets see!/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif PORCHE, LAMBORGINI, TRACTOR? bet they are the fastest tractors around. give a whole new meaning to the statment " I TOOK MY PROSCHE OUT FOR A WORKOUT TODAY"/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif
MJB
Gold Member
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2000
- Messages
- 499
- Location
- Syracuse, New York
- Tractor
- 1952 Case DC-4, 2001 JD4300 MFWD, HST
Lamborghini made tractors before they made cars. The only reason they started car manufacturing was to spite Enzo Ferrari. Seems that Mr. Lamborghini wanted to buy a new Ferrari and set up a meeting with Enzo to discuss the purchase. Enzo kept Lamborghini waiting, as he often did to other VIPs as a kind of power trip. Lamborghini left in a huff and decided he was going to "out Ferrari" Ferrari. It is quite common in most counties for auto manufacturers to also dominate in tractor production. The US is the real exception, where farm implement manufacturers were strong enough to fend off the attempted takeover of tractor manufacturing by the auto industry.
Having owned an air-cooled diesel tractor, I can honestly say that if you can stand the noise, there is nothing wrong with them. I had a Belarus 420AN that used a Russian-built 4 cylinder air-cooled diesel engine, which I've been told by some was just a copy of a Deutz engine (from what I've heard, Deutz is the king of air-cooled diesels...but I've had not experience with a Deutz).
My Belarus had a belt driven "squirrel-cage" fan mounted on the side of the engine. It simply uses this instead of a water pump-mounted fan to cool the radiator. A shroud directs the blown air across the cylinder heads, which stand individually with fins all around them, increasing the surface area for better cooling. There were also deflector plates on the other side of the cylinders, making sure that the air got circulated all the way around the head.
The tractor also had a 12 qt. oil pan and used an oil cooler (it ran in loops in between the fan and the cylinders inside the shroud). So effectively, the oil was air-cooled too, so while the engine is called air-cooled, I'm sure that the oil has a fair amount to do with helping keep it cool.
I, too, was concerned about the engine getting hot, and noticed that the temp gauge for the engine was pegged the first time a used it (it went up to about 140 celcius, I think). I called a couple of dealers, with no luck, and then finally called the Belarus Machinery Company (who was importing the tractors) and they told me that the Russians used the same gauges on the water cooled and air cooled tractors, and that the normal operating temp for the air-cooled engines was actually about 150-160 C. I bought an aftermarket gauge ($10 at Wal-Mart) and installed it, and sure enough, it ran between 150-160, which I think is quite warm. I ran a semi-synthetic and full-synthetic oil in the engine after discovering this, and it gave the engine a noticeably quieter sound and easier starting....of course, it also cost over $60 to change the oil.
I used the tractor for over five years in 90 to 100 + degree weather in the summer, bailing and hauling hay, loader work, etc. and also some in the winter (although until the last year or two that I had it, I couldn't get the glow plugs to work so I couldn't get it started in cold weather). I must admit that the engine was the strong suit of the tractor; I never once added a drop of oil aside from oil changes and never had any problems with the engine itself. I got rid of the tractor, primarily because of hydraulic leaks, electrical problems, loudness, manueverability, etc. but it served me well most of the time. If you can't afford a better one, a Belarus air-cooled tractor will do for a while, but it's not much on creature comfort.
In conclusion (bet you thought I'd never shut up), I wouldn't be scared of air-cooled engines, but they are a bit of a different animal than water cooled.
Take it easy
Tim Gray
My Belarus had a belt driven "squirrel-cage" fan mounted on the side of the engine. It simply uses this instead of a water pump-mounted fan to cool the radiator. A shroud directs the blown air across the cylinder heads, which stand individually with fins all around them, increasing the surface area for better cooling. There were also deflector plates on the other side of the cylinders, making sure that the air got circulated all the way around the head.
The tractor also had a 12 qt. oil pan and used an oil cooler (it ran in loops in between the fan and the cylinders inside the shroud). So effectively, the oil was air-cooled too, so while the engine is called air-cooled, I'm sure that the oil has a fair amount to do with helping keep it cool.
I, too, was concerned about the engine getting hot, and noticed that the temp gauge for the engine was pegged the first time a used it (it went up to about 140 celcius, I think). I called a couple of dealers, with no luck, and then finally called the Belarus Machinery Company (who was importing the tractors) and they told me that the Russians used the same gauges on the water cooled and air cooled tractors, and that the normal operating temp for the air-cooled engines was actually about 150-160 C. I bought an aftermarket gauge ($10 at Wal-Mart) and installed it, and sure enough, it ran between 150-160, which I think is quite warm. I ran a semi-synthetic and full-synthetic oil in the engine after discovering this, and it gave the engine a noticeably quieter sound and easier starting....of course, it also cost over $60 to change the oil.
I used the tractor for over five years in 90 to 100 + degree weather in the summer, bailing and hauling hay, loader work, etc. and also some in the winter (although until the last year or two that I had it, I couldn't get the glow plugs to work so I couldn't get it started in cold weather). I must admit that the engine was the strong suit of the tractor; I never once added a drop of oil aside from oil changes and never had any problems with the engine itself. I got rid of the tractor, primarily because of hydraulic leaks, electrical problems, loudness, manueverability, etc. but it served me well most of the time. If you can't afford a better one, a Belarus air-cooled tractor will do for a while, but it's not much on creature comfort.
In conclusion (bet you thought I'd never shut up), I wouldn't be scared of air-cooled engines, but they are a bit of a different animal than water cooled.
Take it easy
Tim Gray