My first tractor was a late 70's IH 2500b industrial tractor loader with a C-200 4 cylinder gas engine with 7.3:1 compression ratio. It had an HST tranny, a full cab, a dedicated FEL with a 3/4 yard bucket and 52HP at the rear PTO. It was an extremely powerful tractor that weighed about 8000# as configured. (It could be had with either a gas or diesel engine that year) It was used and abused with over 4000hrs on the broken meter when I bought it around 1990 and I treated it harshly for about 10 more years adding a couple thousand more hours before I downsized and bought our 2001 Power Trac PT425 with a 25HP Kohler gas engine. It is a little workhorse. I was out with it today brush hogging through thick heavy weeds that had tops well over my reach, probably close to 9' tall. :thumbsup:
Some of the reasons I like gas are:
- I have gas cans for my gas machines, cars and trucks, etc... I don't have to keep a separate supply of fuel. With gas stabilizer it lasts for years.
- Spill gas on yourself and it evaporates and the smell goes away. Spill diesel on yourself and it lubricates your body and clothes. :drool:
- I like HST tractors. HST machines are meant to run at a high RPM to keep the pump turning at full flow. Gas engines behind HST trannies work just fine. You vary the gearing and speed with your directional pedal, not your throttle. I'll leave that argument for the HST vs gear threads. :laughing:
- I have had much better luck starting gas engines in extreme cold than diesel engines. When its well below zero and the snow is flying I don't want to have to trudge out to the shed to plug in heaters a couple hours before I want to plow snow. With my gas machines I just go out there, give it a shot of ether and it usually fires right up.
So, I prefer gas for those reasons. If I was out plowing dirt for hours and hours or mowing large expanses of pasture or roadside I'm sure I would have a different opinion. For my needs, the gas engines work just fine. :cool2::cloud9:
