alternative methods of farming to save fuel

[WTA]

Do any of you have any tips you could share that you are using to conserve fuel on the farm?

We're paying close to 5 bucks a gallon right now so I'm reimplementing some of the old diesel tricks I learned in the navy for saving fuel and really trying to cut down on the number of trips around the field too.

I've actually been on a couple of ships that were in danger of running out of fuel. More than I care to remember. One was a carrier and one was a frigate. It actually did run out in the far North Pacific once. NOT fun. We called it being cold dark and dirty and we were bobbing around like that for 3 days till a Japanese oiler made it to us to transfer some jet fuel over. That stuff runs great in boilers. Ever since that happened I've really tried to learn all I could about ways to save fuel. I came up with one idea on the carrier I was on that is probably still being used today on steamers.

Anyway, The biggest thing I've done with the tractor to save is throttle down and gear up when I can.
Most of you probably know about this already but there are a lot of implements that just don't need full RPM or high ground speeds.
Like on my spray rig. With Big nozzles in it, I have to run the PTO at 540 or I can't get the pressure I need. I went down a couple sizes on the nozzles and was able to lower it down a good bit. I just mix the weed killers stronger and use a higher gear to get the same ground speed I am used to. That saves a lot of fuel.

With mowing, I have clean pastures so I do not need to run my big shredder at rated speed. Nowhere near it. I have been running along at a faster ground speed with the PTO only going about 300 RPM. It cuts fine for me and doesn't bog my engine down at all.


My truck now is getting excellent mileage. There are lots of things you can do to a diesel pickup to save fuel. Especially if it is computer controlled like most of them are now days.

Remember more air in = more fuel that will be burned. Those fancy cleanable air filters I keep seeing are a waste in my opinion. I wouldn't have one in this area, it's just too dusty and the engine won't last. I do run a large air filter but it's a round dry type designed for a cummins commercial engine. I have a 97 vintage powerstroke engine in mine.
When that filter is new and clean it flows a lot of air and actually burns more fuel than when it is dirty.
As long as it's not collapsing the element or letting any dirt pass through it, I don't change it.

On my engine I moved the air temperature sensor too. It was in the original air filter housing. Now it is hanging out in the grill in front of my condensor where the air is the coolest. The cooler the air they sense the more fuel it will burn but this is a trade off. Cold air is more dense than hot air so for the computer to maintain the correct fuel air ratio it will demand more fuel from the injectors. The savings comes when you have more power and you will be using less of it. I know this sounds backwards but it works for me. I have way more power than I need usually and just don't use it all. I'm real easy on the throttle unless I have to pull my big horse trailer up a mountain or something. That is about the only time I ever floor it.

I keep my tires filled up to exactly what it says on the sticker on the door jamb. There are people out there saying to fill them all up to maximum allowed as written on the tires but that is not a good thing to do if you ask me.
SInce my truck is 4 wheel drive it calls for 50 in the front and 80 in the rear. They do that so you can control it when it's in 4 wheel. The front gears on fords are always a couple points higher than the rears. Like mine has 4.10 in the rear and 4.09 in the front. It's to prevent gear clash and aid in the controllability by making the front end pull harder than the back is.
If your tires are too high a pressure you will be all over the place on rutted out roads and also wear out the centers too fast. Too low and they will overheat and probably blow out on you. Just go by the door sticker.

Synthetic oils! They really help. I'm not one to try going 100K miles on an oil change. Not when it's me that has to rebuild it and buy all those parts. I have been using synthetic in everything for years and it really helps the mileage though. I do stretch oil changes out to about 10K but that's it.

Air conditioning. Here is the biggest myth I've seen in a while. I keep hearing people say to leave your AC off and open the windows. If you really want to save gas then turn it of and leave the windows closed. The aerodynamic drag increase by having the windows open will just about negate any savings from not having the compressor running. I've tried this theory out on several different vehicles I've owned over the years. Trucks aren't that aerodynamic to begin with so we really don't need to add to the drag on them. If you have big light bars, bumpers or anything else that you really don't need right now then take them off. Any thing to make it cut through the wind better will help. If you are idling a lot or in stop and go traffic then this would be a good time to open the windows and turn off the ac but not at highway speeds. At idle with the AC on your engine computer commands a higher idle rpm from the engine. That wastes gas. If you watch this on a monitor that compressor is actually a pretty good load on it at low RPM. I can't even tell a difference at highway RPM's.

My poor little jeep wrangler that I just got rid of couldn't hardly get 55 mph in any kind of head wind with the top on. If I took the top completely off I could actually get the speed limit usually. If I flipped the windshield down I could do it without my foot on the floor. You really notice the differences on a little 4 banger jeep but our engines still notices things like that on bigger trucks. You just don't feel t as much.

My last thought to save gas in your truck is simply to slow down. I grew up driving 55 so it really doesn't bother me at all doing it now. I kinda like going slow anyway. It's hard to see what is going on on the other farms when you are screaming by at 70 MPH.

At 70 my truck gets about 15 or 16 MPG. At 55 I get 26 or 27. TO me it is well worth it to drive 55. I really don't care what everyone else on the road thinks anymore. Not when I'm paying nearly 5 bucks a gallon for fuel.

 

[art]

You say to run a partially clogged air filter? That would cause scuffing of cylinder walls in engines which certainly might be more expensive to rebuild then to have the air for what fuel it might save.
We've found that many tractors are set up to heavy for the bulk of there chores. To work from the side of what do you do most with the tractor and ballast according to that many have found they can cut there fuel being burned every day.

 

[WTA]

It will only hurt the cylinders if it's leaking or REALLY clogged. Most of the engines that I've rebuilt around here were heavily dusted out from either no air filter or a damaged one. It does need to breath but as it gets clogged gas mileage does increase.

 

[flusher]

Do any of you have any tips you could share that you are using to conserve fuel on the farm?

We're paying close to 5 bucks a gallon right now so I'm reimplementing some of the old diesel tricks I learned in the navy for saving fuel and really trying to cut down on the number of trips around the field too.



Anyway, The biggest thing I've done with the tractor to save is throttle down and gear up when I can.
Most of you probably know about this already but there are a lot of implements that just don't need full RPM or high ground speeds.
Like on my spray rig. With Big nozzles in it, I have to run the PTO at 540 or I can't get the pressure I need. I went down a couple sizes on the nozzles and was able to lower it down a good bit. I just mix the weed killers stronger and use a higher gear to get the same ground speed I am used to. That saves a lot of fuel.

With mowing, I have clean pastures so I do not need to run my big shredder at rated speed. Nowhere near it. I have been running along at a faster ground speed with the PTO only going about 300 RPM. It cuts fine for me and doesn't bog my engine down at all.


I only have 7 acres available for haying so cost of #2 diesel is not a big issue for me. But I want to minimize the number of passes over the field to reduce compaction. A typical strategy is hitching a chain harrow or equivalent drag to your disc to do those operations in one pass. I plan to try hitching my cultipacker behind the grain drill for the same reason.

 

[slowzuki]

Actually a partially clogged air filter cleans more particles out of the air stream than a new one. Its just because as it clogs the holes for air to pass through get smaller.

Starving a diesel engine for air won't get you any better milage though. Will save on filters and the engine will last a bit longer.


As for fuel saving, removing loader, minimizing passes, planning operations careful. Have been using my sisters sheep at my parents to mow with. Next tractor will have a e-pto of some type to save fuel.

 

[WTA]

My diesel does see a big improvement in mileage from when the filter is new to when it's dirty. All of them should see some depending on how you drive. It's all computerized now and the sensors know how much air you are taking in.

My last gas engine, a 5.0 in an F-150 also had a big difference in mileage. I kept a factory motorcraft filter in it. With a new filter I got 8 MPG pretty much all the time. It's obvious why I sold it last year I guess. With a dirty filter it would get a little over 10.

I got tired of overhauling the AOD transmission about every 100-150K miles in that one and put a C-6 in it the last time. That's why my gas mileage sucked so bad. No more overdrive. I rebuilt the AOD three times before I switched it. The C-6 came out of an old beater Bronco I had for a farm truck and hald a half million miles on it with not one overhaul. I rebuilt it and put it in my truck and ran it about 200,000 more miles before selling the truck. I don't know anyone that can afford not to have an overdrive these days.

 

[slowzuki]

RE the air filter, I would maybe believe in the gas engine the milage gains since the carb may be out of adjustment. But in a diesel, the air filter being blocked really just makes a pumping inefficiency. The injection pump only puts enough diesel in to make the power you're asking it too with your foot.

To my knowledge the air temp sensor only plays a role in a computerized diesel in setting the max fueling to prevent too much smoke and when to glow or preheat. When its hot it will limit the fueling compared to cold where more air is available.

 

[mjarrels]

UPS and others have changed their schedules to include "right turns only" to save fuel... Thinks about all the time you wait for traffic before being able to turn left and also waiting for stop lights before being able to turn left. Right turns only makes sense.

mark

 

[zzvyb6]

You should easily be able to run tires at 45 - 50 psi. They won't explode or wear excessively. Stay off cruise control and run fixed throttle. Turn off engine when sitting at a light. Remove front axle shafts if not needed in 4wd. Best mileage is achieved by cutting off the brake pedal. Ask your town to synchronize traffic lights so you don't have to stop unnecessarily. Car pool. Use thin oils in warm weather. Put the largest size tire that will fit in the wheel well. This cuts engine rpm for a fixed real speed and the higher load rating will result in smaller tire deflections and footprint. With smaller footprint and deflection, less hysteresis means lower tire rolling resistance.

 

[slowzuki]

Tire choice makes a big difference in some vehicles, the wide sticky tires I have on my little commuter toyota were a mistake, they eat about 3 mpg off my mileage.