Gasoline Tractors are they coming Back ?

[warrendeere]

My other biggest problem with this discussion is people have been pushed to believe diesels are bad and that they should move to gas. They can't see past the madness and actually understand. People have bought into the medias narrative and have caved. People also want to compare a 40 year old gasoline industrial engine to a modern diesel and say "oh the diesel has so much stuff on it and it's too complex. Have you actually looked under the hood of a modern gas engine?!? No question diesel is far more complex. No doubt. It's more expensive to maintain it. But a gas engine just can't keep up. They don't last as long. People love to look at specs on paper and say the gas engine is the obvious choice. Have you actually used either? But seriously, These arguments are weak and have no backing.

 

[cqaigy2]

I can see where the smaller tractor might be nice to have gas. You have a gas powered lawn mower, gas snow blower, power washer, generator, etc.

If you ask most people if they would want a diesel, it's 'oh ya, sure do!' ask them why and it's more like 'uhm cause everbody says they're better'.

 

[4570Man]

We have a couple places selling off road for 50-75 cheaper than taxed diesel. They are somewhat convenient in that I drive by them, so a special trip isn’t usually necessary.

I didn’t know construction equipment was required to burn taxed fuel? I always burned off road in my backhoe.

Fuel has multiple taxes applied with road tax and sales tax being 2 of them. Construction and other off-road equipment can avoid the road tax but still have to pay sales tax. Farm equipment doesn’t have to pay sales tax. At least that’s how the local place sells it.

 

[MickeyDBC]

My other biggest problem with this discussion is people have been pushed to believe diesels are bad and that they should move to gas. They can't see past the madness and actually understand. People have bought into the medias narrative and have caved. People also want to compare a 40 year old gasoline industrial engine to a modern diesel and say "oh the diesel has so much stuff on it and it's too complex. Have you actually looked under the hood of a modern gas engine?!? No question diesel is far more complex. No doubt. It's more expensive to maintain it. But a gas engine just can't keep up. They don't last as long. People love to look at specs on paper and say the gas engine is the obvious choice. Have you actually used either? But seriously, These arguments are weak and have no backing.

Diesels really do need the emissions crap on them because they really are bad for the environment. Old smokey diesels put out big soot particles that make smog and turn everything black, the new diesels with high pressure common rail multi injection are much more efficient but they make tiny soot particles that get far down into your lungs and act like asbestos and can give you cancer later down the road. That is why the new engines have DPF and those over 74HP have DEF systems on them.

After having three emissions diesels in pickups (nightmare emissions problems with the RAM, the Fords were better) the last pickup I bought was a F350 dually with the 7.3 gas engine in it. Tows 20K pounds just as good as the diesels did (just does not accelerate uphill as fast) and is so much easier to live with. Gets the same crappy mileage the diesels did but fuel and maintenance are a lot cheaper. And you can even see the engine and get to everything to work on it if needed down the road. When the powers that be decide to tighten emissions again, I think gas engines will make a comeback.

 

[Hodado]

I could never figure out why diesel is more expensive than gasoline when the refinement process is more expensive for gas than diesel.All about control I guess

 

[Hodado]

I am not a conspiracy theorist, but let's face it, diesel is in the public eye these days. Our current government would love to do away with it completely. If they somehow create an environment artificially that keeps fuel prices high, perhaps it will give the industry more incentive to start moving away from diesel. At least, that's the plan. And it seems to be working, with Cummins developing a gasoline version of their popular 6.7L engine, Ford dropping two new gas engines in the last 24 months, and semi-truck manufacturers showing off hydrogen fuel cell and electric options to fleets. I would say it's only a matter of time until ag equipment follows suit.

I would like to note that I do not personally agree with the way things are going. I'm just pointing out how it is. This current administration sees environmental issues as their key to staying in power. All they have to do is convince folks there is a problem, and then present themselves as the solution to that problem.

When I visited Europe I noticed that everything ran on diesel,trucks,cars,minivans you name it but here quite the opposite the government has done all it can to see diesel’s are kept only for industrial purposes

 

[Gopher Baroque]

You raise an interesting question. One drawback of gas for occasional users is that it doesn't store as well as diesel does. I can shut my diesel tractor off, pull the key and walk away from it for a year. (Theoretically speaking... it's a rare occasion that it sets for more than a week.)

I did that with my Ford Explorer. I did keep the battery on charge, though. It had to crank a little on the starter, but fired right up after sitting that long.
I think a modern gas tractor with fuel injection would work quite well. The quick warm-up of gas motor would be well matched to the hobby/casual user with mostly spurts of short activity.
Including an OBDII port would allow use of common diagnostic tools and make it friendly to owner-maintenance.

 

[MossRoad]

I could never figure out why diesel is more expensive than gasoline when the refinement process is more expensive for gas than diesel.All about control I guess

Supply and demand.
Diesel fuel prices started getting more expensive around the same time diesel pickups started becoming popular, back when diesel was less expensive than gas.

Same thing happened to the price of vegetable oil when people found out it was cheaper than diesel fuel and started that short-lived fad of burning veggie oil in diesel trucks. The price of vegetable oil Doesn't anyone remember that?

 

[ptsg]

When I visited Europe I noticed that everything ran on diesel,trucks,cars,minivans you name it but here quite the opposite the government has done all it can to see diesel’s are kept only for industrial purposes

And before all the craziness going on in the world in the last two years, Diesel was like 50 to 70 cents cheaper per Liter than gasoline. Which is a big part as to we tend to have lots of diesel engines everywhere, from small air cooled 4hp diesel engines to 750 HP like the ones used on Volvo trucks.

Even way back in the day, we've always had diesel engines on tractors. Gas engines were a complete minority and often brought out by companies like JD, Massey, and maybe a few others.

 

[Hay Dude]

Gas engines are not a good match for high torque load (like a farm tractor) or constant run (like a high mile OTR truck) tasks.
They have less torque rise and low end torque meaning they must rev higher, meaning shorter lifespan and more fuel consumption.

The newer/improved gas engines took a cue from diesel engines with turbocharging, heavier bottom ends, higher compression to make them more efficient, but also cost more to build, so the cost advantage is shrinking since gas engines have more accessories bolted to them, adding cost.

That being said, if gas is going to be 2/3 the price of diesel, I could see people putting up with the les’s torque at low RPM and high gallon consumption. Especially if the buy-in price for the engine is less.

A breakthrough in diesel engine emissions technology that makes the price more affordable could change that.

We live in an unpredictable, ever changing world where you never know what can happen.