Will Tier 4 lead to gas tractors again?

[Boeing]

Diesel has much more TORQUE as has been stated. For a low RPM tractor that's it....end of debate. With that said I get ticked every day that I fly to other countries and see DIESELS EVERYWHERE. I had an overnight (actually day since we fly at night) and saw an almost new 4 door JEEP RUBICON DIESEL.......tell me WHY our manufacturers will not offer that to us? I would LOVE to buy a Ford Explorer in a 4X diesel.....Jeep BRIEFLY had a Grand Cherokee diesel...but dropped it. WHY? If it needed more power they could have Turbo-ed it....The PICKUP crowd sure love them

[3930dave]

Not sure if Top Gear still prints a magazine. If you can find one, flip through the Classified ads in the back.

You'll get a good overview for what is available for diesel cars in the UK. Everything from 900cc econo city cars, to 3L+ grand touring estates and saloons - all the price points are covered, and choice is extensive.

That's just the UK Boeing, I suspect many of the countries that you fly into will be the same.

Rgds, D.

[Ilikeurtractor]

.....Jeep BRIEFLY had a Grand Cherokee diesel...but dropped it. WHY?

I can't understand this either. If the auto makers are already making these vehicles (and selling in Europe), why isn't it available in the U.S.? Supposedly the Chevy Cruz will have an available diesel option next year (maybe already I haven't been following it) in the U.S. but it was available a year or two ago in Europe with it.

I hate to think it is purely for emissions reasons, but maybe. What about fuel production? If everybody switched to diesel engines would that be a problem for the oil industries? I'm thinking not, since it sounds like refineries have good control over what they choose to make and diesel fuel takes less refining than gasoline, but maybe they always have to make X amount of gasoline regardless. Lots of questions and I don't know of good sources for answers.

[Gale Hawkins]

Diesels do not burn corn as well as gas engines. EPA is married to corn fed autos period. They are coming after diesels as we all know so what USA seller of new cars is stupid enough to go there?

[WilliamBos]

Diesels do not burn corn as well as gas engines. EPA is married to corn fed autos period. They are coming after diesels as we all know so what USA seller of new cars is stupid enough to go there?

Soy based biodiesel is the better route. I know of one big farm that runs it all year round with no issues at all.

[case245]

I say but a turbo on a 4 popper engine throw it in a tractor like a 2.5l iron duke i had one in an s 10 a stick the motor made 110hp 150ibs torque more horse power and as much torque as my 203in Kubota engine the iron dukes only 151cu in thats 52cu in less then the kubota motor i was getting 23 MPGS around town

[crazyal]

My old Farmall A made the same power as the Kubota B8200 I had at the time. Same HP, very similar torque curve. The Farmall was a 1941...

Big different, is the the Farmall was 113ci, while the Kubota was 59ci. And, the Farmall used more fuel. But, it had plenty of grunt...

Don't forget a lot has changed since that Farmall engine was made.

[radioman]

Diesels do not burn corn as well as gas engines. EPA is married to corn fed autos period. They are coming after diesels as we all know so what USA seller of new cars is stupid enough to go there?

Soy based biodiesel is the better route. I know of one big farm that runs it all year round with no issues at all.

soy and algae is diesel biofuel. I too can't understand why are we not producing more smaller vehicles with diesel. I am thinking it hasa to do with old mindset ways of old times of diesel spewing black smoke all the time. I also think it has to do with doing away with reliablity and simplicity.

[3930dave]

Once diesels are gone, they will be coming for your burger !

Which is Worse for Air Quality: ?urger Smog or Truck Pollution?

So, hop in your diesel now, and enjoy cruising for a char-broiled burger - both might be history sooner rather than later !

I'm all for domestic agriculture being properly supported. Won't comment on Corn, as that deserves at least 2 threads of it's own - 1) Politics and 2) Science - regarding use as fuel.

Despite our "free" markets and "free" press in Canada and USA, it is only discussions like this one here that highlight:

1) We are largely denied access to the very fuel efficient (ie. diesel) light vehicle platforms that most of the rest of the world enjoys.

2) The governments here are driving real-world fuel mpgs down by forcing more ethanol into gasoline.

3) You get 2 guesses (and the first 3 don't count) what #'s 1 and 2 above do to government revenues.

I'm not big on screwing up the environment. That said, I'm definitely not impressed with other significant agendas being cloaked in the "Protecting the Environment" mantle.

Rgds, D.

[RobertN]

Very true. But still, that 1941 Farmall A/B motor made same hp as modern CUT diesels, with a big fat broad torque curve that matched the curve the Kubota had. Heavy crank and flywheel, long stroke... 540pto rpm was only around 1600rpm on the motor.

A modern 3 or 4 cylinder direct injection gas motor, with the proper grind cam could replicate that the diesels in most CUT's. It certainly would not be a car motor though. Build for lower rpm, head and cam designed for torque.

Even then, it would be larger ci/cc and less fuel efficient than comparable diesel.

Don't forget a lot has changed since that Farmall engine was made.