How much would a good gasoline motor cost compared to a diesel?

[4570Man]

The topic of making a swap to gasoline equipment comes up occasionally mostly because of recent emissions equipment. A Kohler air cooled motor and a diesel is a far cry from the same thing. How much would making a gas motor with comparable durability as a diesel cost in comparison? Likely features would include a cast iron block, liquid cooled, lower rpm more toque than the average gasser, quieter, than the average gasser, and fuel injected. I’m thinking building a good gasser wouldn’t be as big of a cost savings as some claim.

 

[Agvg]

To have torq at low rpm a turbo is needed on both gas and diesel, and and advanced injection system is also required, and I suppose we are talking high efficiency engines of proper size, not lawnmower engines. Had a rental car with 1.3l gasolin producing 130hp, it did behave as a diesel, started pulling hard at 1300rpm and no point under normal driving to go much over 2000rpm.

 

[Diggin It]

A starting point might be the difference in price between a diesel and gas engine pickup or flatbed truck intended for hauling. I've never priced new trucks, so I don't even know if there is a significant difference there.

Diesel took tractor engines away from gasoline models long ago. There must have been a reason beyond fuel costs and emissions, even though emissions weren't an issue until the last 30 years or so

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[4570Man]

A starting point might be the difference in price between a diesel and gas engine pickup or flatbed truck intended for hauling. I've never priced new trucks, so I don't even know if there is a significant difference there.

Diesel took tractor engines away from gasoline models long ago. There must have been a reason beyond fuel costs and emissions, even though emissions weren't an issue until the last 30 years or so

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Emission weren’t a big problem until 5 or so years ago. A pickup isn’t as simple as bolt in a gas motor at the end of the assembly line so I think that’s an over inflated cost.

 

[ericm979]

Pickup truck diesels have more difficult emissions requirements than under 75hp CUTs so they need DEF, cooled EGR etc which the CUTs don't have. But I think a good part of the price increase for a diesel engine in a truck is demand- some people need the extra power for towing or hauling and a lot of people buy it mostly for the image.

A gas engine has less stress on the parts since the compression ratio is not as high. The pistons, crank and rods can be less expensive design and materials and the block and head do not need to be as sturdy. The FI system does not need to be direct injection to meet emissions requirements and even if it is DI, gas DI pressures are not as high so the parts are cheaper. The catalytic converter costs less than a DPF or DOC. The costs would be less, but not by a huge amount.

It's interesting that gas engines were the most common in USA market CUTS in the '50s and '60s (and earlier). It's not difficult to tune a gas engine to make sufficient torque at low rpm for tractor use. Diesels became more popular with the advent of foreign tractors. They were diesels because that's what they'd been building for their home markets. Diesel has more energy per gallon so it's more cost effective. The foreign companies mostly made good diesels and they became popular. Now people think tractor = diesel. A gas tractor would be a hard sell.

 

[atitus74]

The industry eventually self corrects. If emissions requirements favor gasoline engines, no doubt we will see a return of gasoline powered tractors at some point. I am waiting to see what happens with electrics. With road vehicles, the weight of batteries is a significant obstacle. With tractors, people are usually search for ways to make them heavier! Seems to me there is an opportunity there.

 

[nards444]

The industry eventually self corrects. If emissions requirements favor gasoline engines, no doubt we will see a return of gasoline powered tractors at some point. I am waiting to see what happens with electrics. With road vehicles, the weight of batteries is a significant obstacle. With tractors, people are usually search for ways to make them heavier! Seems to me there is an opportunity there.

Set aside all the politics and what not, electric motors are impressive. Of course there are shortcoming's, but if those were to be figured out it would be something else.

 

[4570Man]

The industry eventually self corrects. If emissions requirements favor gasoline engines, no doubt we will see a return of gasoline powered tractors at some point. I am waiting to see what happens with electrics. With road vehicles, the weight of batteries is a significant obstacle. With tractors, people are usually search for ways to make them heavier! Seems to me there is an opportunity there.

While the weight isn’t a big deal the service live and time for a recharge is a bigger setup.

 

[jaxs]

Car,truck and tractor manufactures place more importance on customer trends than efficiency and longivity to guide them on what to build. The #1 reason(if not the only reason) more diesel engines weren't offered for cars and light trucks in the USA all along was they couldn't make jackrabbit starts at stop lights. Turbos and electronic tuneing changed all that overnight. Now the trend is "rolling smoke". No industrial or tractor engine has come close to hit & miss engines for simplicity,longivity and operating economy. There are many operating today that were built before most of us were born and they will run on anything that will flame if touched with a match. One of you old ex-oilfield roughnecks tell our class about One Lungers and drip gas.
New and improved engine? Folks on the left coast would like to roll another one out any day now.:jester:

 

[nards444]

Car,truck and tractor manufactures place more importance on customer trends than efficiency and longivity to guide them on what to build. The #1 reason(if not the only reason) more diesel engines weren't offered for cars and light trucks in the USA all along was they couldn't make jackrabbit starts at stop lights. :

Your first sentence is very true. What throws that off though is variables. Gas went to 4-5 bucks people demanded smaller more efficient cars, which meant trucks and SUVs sat on lots. Now trucks and SUV gets better MPG. Efficiency I think will always be a player.
As far as diesel engines never taking off theres a few factors, up front cost and legacy maint cost. The other factor is Americans keep their cars around 6-7 years on average, youll never realize any savings or efficiancy with most drivers in that short of a span. In general gas engines are cheaper, easier, and for the normal driver is probably a better option.