PTSG, if you removed the DOC, obviously the warranty is void.But is it illegal? I mean if you are doing your own repairs I guess your position is, “ this whole issue is dumb and it is my personal liberty to do what I want to keep machine reliable?”
I have seen several Utubes where guys say it is not that bad (regen cycle) and for hobbyists (non-business applications) it only happens twice per year. I was not aware that some larger applications (Cummings, CAT) have reliability issues early from Emissions add-ons. I wonder if the emissions reductions from Diesel engines is having a meaningful positive impact on the environment. It just seems overkill to me to introduce this level of complexity with added sensors and components to a tractor that never receives a license plate to drive on the road.
I recently (1.5 years) bought a new Stihl chainsaw, MS-362. The newest model has a microprocessor to control air/fuel mixture that adapts at different elevations. I could not stand he idea of being in the woods wit my chainsaw and thinking is contains a computer. One more thing to fail that I can’t fix. I happen to find a new (in box) model without the microprocessor looking in the stockroom of business. The sales guy was apologizing for it not having the processor while I’m putting my arms around the box assuring I can buy it. That’s the same way I feel about all this complexity. No sense crying about it. It’s here, deal with it. But I am hearing some guys saying it’s not that big a deal .
Are they controlling the off road vehicles for emissions? It always comes out to the owners responsibility. On the Branson, it's pretty much a standalone system, almost like an add-on. If the warranty is voided? Maybe, but some dealers will still warranty the tractor. At least, those who did the "mod", asked the dealers about that and they said they would still do warranty work on the tractor.
It doesn't affect me personally as the European models didn't come with emissions system in the first place. Just a regular good ol'muffler. This is changing now. From 2020 and on, all new tractors have to come with emissions systems in Europe. We do have license plates on tractors though and it's a matter of time, till we have inspections on the tractors, to check things like ROPS, seat belts and so on.
But I had a 2009 VW Golf that had a lot of problems with the DPF/DOC. We ended up have to sell the thing. It wouldn't complete the regen process and every time we took it to the shop, was around $300, which is a lot in this country. In it's defense, it was the first generation of emissions systems. Now on a 2016 Mitsubishi Outlander, it has been flawless so far.
I follow Western truck and repair on Youtube. He is very talented and has lots of knowledge in pretty much everything with an engine. He constantly have to repair truck engines due to failures of the emissions systems, like EGR coolers, SCR dosing systems and so on. He even had to rebuilt an engine of a JD tractor with only 2000 hours on it. The thing ate itself due to a plugged DPF, if I recall correctly.
I also see a lot of people saying "it's not that bad". Well, it's not that bad, till it starts giving issues, right? These things a prone to have issues, so it's a matter of time till it happens.
My 2 year warranty, is long gone on mine but if I had the DOC on mine, would run it till it started giving me problems. Once that would happen, I would just take the thing off.
I do agree with you and question the same thing. Is this really that good for the environment? I mean, what's the point of having to run the tractor pretty much wide open all the time, burn more fuel, making more noise, creating extra unnecessary wear, just to keep the DPF/DOC happy? And in the end, it will still dump all the crap back out during regen. Yes it comes out in finer particles but it still bad regardless.