Diesel smell

[Overtaxed]

This is a "for fun" post that I thought might resonate with some. My first tractor on my new farm was a Kioti NX (2016 model) that has a DPF/regen. It smells like a tractor, I'd been away from the land for a long time and when I first started it up, I thought "man, I love that smell". But a week ago, I bought another tractor, a 2012 JD 2070 and I realized what I was missing. Started her up the other day, the little puff of black smoke and the overwhelming smell of "work" was everywhere. See, that tractor doesn't have all the new emissions stuff and it smells like the tractors I grew up on, where the Kioti, although it smells like diesel, is nothing like the machines I used to use.

I missed it. They've made the new engines so clean that they don't smell right anymore. Love that little puff of black when I start the machine, it reminds me of my childhood and all the good memories that went along with riding around our B7100 for hours on end (mowing 14 acres with a 42 in cutter, no, I'm not kidding).

The smell of diesel is second to only one thing for me, 2 stroke. God I love that smell. I have the really hot small Stihl chainsaw and when I start that thing, the smell and the "anger" of a 2 stroke engine is just wonderful. It sounds so ready to work, so "on edge", like it's tuned to just a hair below "blow up in 10 minutes".

The smells of my childhood. I'm sure a lot of people think that diesel and 2 stroke are awful smells. To me they remind me of where I came from, those smells where there in some of the best times of my life. Others feel the same?

 

[thepumpguysc]

OH GOD, I love a 2 stroke.. I could sit in my boat for days just idling/trolling around..

 

[farmeratheart]

Not diesel or 2 stroke, but smells of our early years ...

When I was 19 I had a motorcycle accident that put me in the hospital for 6 weeks. The day that I was brought home I asked to go to the dairy barn 1st. I ‘walked’ inside with my crutches, took a deep breath through my nose, and said “Now I’m alive!”

Frank

 

[searcyfarms]

I personally would much rather smell and old school diesel tractor with old school fuel than the 2stroke gassy smell mixed with oil - it permeates your clothes and you carry it with you long after the engine is shut off - not so much with diesel - and we troll for hours with the OLD two strokes and if the wind is blowing into the boat from the back of the engine/exhaust sucking in that stink for 10 to 12 hours will give you a headache and burn your eyes for sure. you can have your 2 stroke in that instance lol - I like it behind me on my old dirt bike and go cart when I was a kid - yes I had a 2 stroke go cart that I rigged up with a homelite engine!!!!

 

[PILOON]

One smell that that I always will remember is boat races where all the 2 stokes burned castor oil in the fuel mix.

 

[finn1]

I worked for a Diesel engine manufacturer back in the 70s. I much prefer my DPF equipped Kioti, and so do my lungs.

My 4 stroke Mercury outboard is great, too. The 2 stroke Stihl weed walker will ultimately go down the road in favor of a battery unit.

No resolution in sight for the stinky chainsaws, though.

 

[Wood_Butcher_Dav]

What about some Nitro-methane, get 4-6 RC cars running at same time may even burn your eyes a little. Or go with the big boy Drag car smell.

 

[thepumpguysc]

FINN> believe it or not.. everybodys RAVING about the Harbor Freight LYNXX battery powered 40v line..
They say the weedeater is fantastic.. & battery life is superb.. Some folks even went so far as to buy a 2nd battery while they were there.. you know how it is.. you don't wanna get stuck in the middle of a job & have to stop to charge a battery..
Well, they say, its still in the wrapper.. The 1st one never got past 1/2 charge & they were done w/ their project.!!!
Check it out.. I think they even have a polesaw attachment??

 

[bigtiller]

Not diesel or 2 stroke, but smells of our early years ...

When I was 19 I had a motorcycle accident that put me in the hospital for 6 weeks. The day that I was brought home I asked to go to the dairy barn 1st. I ‘walked’ inside with my crutches, took a deep breath through my nose, and said “Now I’m alive!”

Frank

Yep...

It's hard to convince city people that cow poo smells sweet.

 

[oosik]

Hey - my man - - out here the smell of cows and cow crap = big $$$$. They come out here from the city - their shiny car gets dusty on my gravel driveway - they don't like the smell of country or cows or cow poop. Don't let the gate hit you in the A** as you head home.

 

[arizona98tj]

One smell that that I always will remember is boat races where all the 2 stokes burned castor oil in the fuel mix.

Change "boat races" to "motorycle road races" and I'm all in. 40 years ago, I used to road race. At the track, Saturday AM was practice time and the infield was bathed with castor oil exhaust from 2 stroke bikes screaming around the race course.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

FINN> believe it or not.. everybodys RAVING about the Harbor Freight LYNXX battery powered 40v line..
They say the weedeater is fantastic.. & battery life is superb.. Some folks even went so far as to buy a 2nd battery while they were there.. you know how it is.. you don't wanna get stuck in the middle of a job & have to stop to charge a battery..
Well, they say, its still in the wrapper.. The 1st one never got past 1/2 charge & they were done w/ their project.!!!
Check it out.. I think they even have a polesaw attachment??

Yep the 40V's are amazing, though I have the Dewalt I suspect they came from the same factory. Was VERY skeptical about the chainsaw; now a total believer. Keeping the gasser for the occasional 36" downed tree, but otherwise.....

Smells. OLD horse barns: a combo of manure, hay, horse, leather, and old wood. (Big new pole-barn types just smell like dust mostly.) Freshly cut red-top is my favorite smell of all. Reminds me of galloping through tall fields of grass bareback as a teenager.

 

[Alien]

Give me the memories of old model aeroplane Diesel motors. Loved that ether smell. Not so much the glow motors but the nitro wasn't too bad. And, yes, I love my 2016 Kioti diesel. Did a few hours yesterday and got it so dusty I had to give it a tub.

 

[ericm979]

Two stroke exhaust can smell good or bad. It depends on the oil. Castor oil smells good (to me). I switched my trials motorcycles from Motul to Redline synthetic. In trials you're sometimes waiting in line before attempting the next observed section. Fellow competitors were complaining about the stink from my bike with the Motul. The Redline smells similar to castor oil. I use the same oil in my chainsaws and other two stroke power equipment. Back when I was a teenager with a Kawasaki triple I ran Bel-Ray oil. It did not smell that great but was not as nasty as the Motul.

Untreated diesel exhaust has always smelled nasty to me. When I'm on a motorcycle I'll make sure to pass smoky old diesels (or modern ones that have had their polution controls removed, thanks guys). Most of the time when I was operating my old Kubota I'd be far enough away from the exhaust that I was not breathing too much of it. But when changing an implement in the barn, phwew. Most of the time I shut it down rather than breathe that junk. With the new Branson's DPF the exhaust is much less unpleasant and I can let it idle in the barn while changing implements and not be choking by the time I'm done.

 

[hawkeye08]

All these farm smells, someone should start making aromatherapy oils for farmers. Can you imagine an old geezer (no offense) in a nursing home getting a weekly therapy session, bringing back fond memories of younger days?

 

[RalphVa]

Our 2010 VW Jetta TDI stunk after a regen and after being put in the garage, particularly if the cooling fan on the DPF was still running. Our old 1983 240D Benz smelled better by comparison.

About the cleanest (non DPF/regen) diesels I've experienced is the Isuzu one on our generator from the Maine people. Very rarely smokes. Pleasant exhaust smell when running. No diesel clatter. This is the 12.5 kw Isuzu unit you can Google and find online.

Ralph

 

[gator]

A few years ago on another website I frequent a female poster asked for mens opinions on what perfume she should wear for a first date. I have no clue about perfume so I responded splash some diesel behind your ears and squirt WD-40 on your wrists and I'd marry you. She replied and said that wasn't funny, I replied and said I was serious.

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

A few years ago on another website I frequent a female poster asked for mens opinions on what perfume she should wear for a first date. I have no clue about perfume so I responded splash some diesel behind your ears and squirt WD-40 on your wrists and I'd marry you. She replied and said that wasn't funny, I replied and said I was serious.

Or like Granny in The Beverly Hillbillies, "a dab of vanilly extract behind each ear." Hey, works for me!

I read that SMELLS are the only sensory input that is not processed first by the "thinking" parts of your brain. They go direct and uncensored right to the parts that cause emotional responses. Which is why smells are so powerful, can take you back to another time and place in an instant. And we remember them long after we've forgotten so many other things.....

(Any scientists here can explain it a little better.)

 

[arizona98tj]

All these farm smells, someone should start making aromatherapy oils for farmers. Can you imagine an old geezer (no offense) in a nursing home getting a weekly therapy session, bringing back fond memories of younger days?

If you dropped a line to Essential Oils, I'm sure they could make that happen.

 

[Navy CWO]

I remember the smell of castor oil at the bike races when I was a kid. Now, I actually put a bit of castor oil additive into my 4 stroke BMW's gas can. Do it to my wife's Moto Guzzi also. When we go for a ride, she leads and I follow and I get to enjoy the perfume of her exhaust.