General Question on Diesels

[Diggin It]

I'm not into diesels. I grew up when the only things with them were big trucks and Ag and construction equipment. Never would have heard of a small lawn mower type thing with one. Detroit Diesel and Cummins probably ruled the world.

So, what happened? Why do we have all the Asian brands now? Sort of a rhetorical question, but not entirely. Did DD and Cummins miscalculate the smaller markets? Or didn't they care?

 

[bunyip]

Diesels were always big and high compression, I suspect they don't care and as time went by the compression dropped and small engines became viable especially with small turbo units, common rail and intercoolers.
Could you imagine trying to pre heat and hand start a mower with a 25:1 compression ratio?

 

[RNeumann]

Look at the BTUs per gallon. Off the top of my head it’s something like this ratio:

Nat Gas- 60-65
Propane- 70
Gasoline- 100
Diesel- 105-110
Jet Fuel- 115

Those are rough numbers but you get the idea. Diesel provides a good bang for a given amount. Makes sense more manufacturers would be entering the market. Especially now that they’ve figure out how to inject and time the engines.

 

[Agvg]

No problem to handstart a 1cyl diesel, but on a small mover there are no point to use diesel engine.

 

[3930dave]

Did DD and Cummins miscalculate the smaller markets? Or didn't they care?

I'd say it was mostly Don't Care.

In the N. American market, manufacturers focus on Big Vehicles = Big Profits much of the time.

Other markets have other dynamics. High density regions (Asia, much of Western Europe) need compact construction equipment. Turns out, those same compact units are pretty useful here too. An local excavator commented on the first mini JCB he bought - He wasn't sure how much use he'd get out of it the first year.... turned out he was busy right up to Christmas (freeze up here), and kept it very busy the following years.

Extra complexity has come into diesels in recent years, but traditionally they provided a high-torque, fuel efficient powerplant - just what's needed for getting work Done.

Companies like Yanmar targeted small diesel applications, and excelled there.

Rgds, D.

 

[Agvg]

3 cyl, water cooled diesels are the std on small equipment today, low noice level and vibrations on those vs 1 and 2 cyl air cooled engines.

 

[Navvet]

I have a JD X495 mower with a Yanmar 3 cyl 24 hp diesel. Much more power and 1/3 the fuel used compared to my old 25hp gas.

 

[Diggin It]

I have a JD X495 mower with a Yanmar 3 cyl 24 hp diesel. Much more power and 1/3 the fuel used compared to my old 25hp gas.

That's fine, but the question is why didn't Detroit Diesel make that 3 cylinder engine for JD?

 

[Diggin It]

I'd say it was mostly Don't Care.

In the N. American market, manufacturers focus on Big Vehicles = Big Profits much of the time.

You'd like to think that a company like JD could have persuaded DD or Cummins to enter the market with their projected sales of GTs and SCUTs.

 

[Navvet]

That's fine, but the question is why didn't Detroit Diesel make that 3 cylinder engine for JD?

Why did Ford stop production on the original T-Bird, as 3930Dave said, US manufacturers concentrate on BIG ......

I also have a JD AMT626 with a Kawasaki engine ....... (and an F350 with a 7.3L Powerstroke diesel)