Fuel consumption query

[LD1]

Since engineers have developed such improved fuel mileage in cars and trucks,

Not sure I agree with that statement.

Small commuter cars of 2 decades ago got just as good (if not better) mileage than similar cars today.

Do you guys here realize you have basically shot down my reason to buy another tractor...??? Yeah, now I have to get that 318 running again instead of buying a new one. :laughing: Thanks to all.

Well in that case, I think the new deeres get excellent economy. Infact, it is difficult to calculate gallons per hour now. Rather use hours per gallon. And I think they are nearing in on 12 hours per gallon :laughing:

In all seriousness, I would expect similar if not even a tad worse economy. Mostly do to more HP. I know my ZTR sure seems to use lots of fuel for not many hours. But when I stop and see the amount of grass cut, it is probably on par with my old JD240. It burned about 1/2 the fuel per hour, but also only cut about 1/2 the amount of grass in an hour.

 

[bigtiller]

prosperity, I am not sure if your "do the math" comment refers to me or not, but the reason I started this thread was because I was curious about modern lawn care equipment fuel consumption. Since engineers have developed such improved fuel mileage in cars and trucks, I wondered if any economy advances had been made in small gas engines. As for the payback time for diesel vs. gas, I recall reading an article in an RV magazine...Trailer Life? back about 1998 or so. They compared 3/4 ton pickups, gas vs. diesel, and if I recall right they reported it would take close to a quarter million miles of driving to make buying the diesel pickup cost effective.

Do you guys here realize you have basically shot down my reason to buy another tractor...??? Yeah, now I have to get that 318 running again instead of buying a new one. :laughing: Thanks to all.

Buy a new one and you won't have to set your beer down to change directions.

 

[LD1]

Buy a new one and you won't have to set your beer down to change directions.

Speaking of which (dont mean to hijack) anyone like the ZTR's that have a joystick?? I fine the 2-handle type like most to be a bit challenging with a beverage. And the cupholders dont work well at the speed these things run. They get a bit foamy in no time:laughing:

 

[js5020]

Im another who does not think the diesel option is worth the cost in the under 30hp classes. Yes they do get good fuel economy but when buying new the premium for the engine pretty much kills overall savings, or puts the break even out so far that it doesn't matter. I had some JD data between the x700 and the x740, the x700 used 1.2 gph and the x740 .9 gph according to the numbers from JD, that small difference coupled to the almost 2K up charge and more expensive diesel (in my area anyways) leads me to believe that there is little to no savings to be had.

 

[buickanddeere]

OP here...I drove medium duty trucks for a living and had 31 years to compare gas motors in those trucks to oil burners...the fleet would get about 6-7 mpg for trucks like the Ford F600-700 gassers (370 cubic inch 2v and 4v engines) and the first diesel I drove, an IHC S-1900 with the DT-466 diesel would deliver 9-10 mpg for comparable use. The last work truck I had was an F-800 with the 5.9 Cummins, mileage for city/highway delivery work was about 9.8 overall during a 60,000 mile period. A diesel engine will consume about 35-45% less fuel, but if you pay a huge premium for the diesel up front the payback time can be decades.

Just how does a diesel dump truck vs a gasser dump truck. Compare to a lawn mower that burns 2-3 gallons a week. Last time I looked diesel was much more $$$ at the pumps. Tell me where are the savings are cutting grass a couple of hours per week?