My two Diesels

[farmerboybill]

Hey all,

Bought this 735 several years ago. It had been in a shed fire - the tires, cables, and engine were burned badly, but the transmission was only discolored by smoke. The cables still have the sleeves burned, and it still has the smoke residue, but I transplanted this NOS Acme diesel I bought from Paul Sullivan jr., and it runs like a top. I actually haven't used it in a couple years, but when I got this trailer recently, I realized it makes a much better puller than my 850 diesel. It has 2 more speeds in rear mount mode, including road gear. The 850 has road gear in mower mode, so only pulls the trailer at 2.8 mph - VERY slow.

The other is my 830 that had a 9 hp briggs POS that I replaced with a KD440. It's running a Berta 2 way plow. Fantastic pair. I can't believe how much I like my two way plow.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Looks like some nice ground! Envious. We grow stones!

Brings back memories of my Gravely Walk Behind days!

 

[wstr75]

Love my Berta rotary plow.

 

[farmerboybill]

Looks like some nice ground! Envious. We grow stones!

Brings back memories of my Gravely Walk Behind days!

At least there's soil under your rocks. I'm in the driftless area, the last glaciers didn't knock over our hills. We have no glacial stone, but when we do hit rock, we're done because we just hit a limestone quarry! Ours are big and flat. I've picked rocks outta my "real" fields that are 4 inches thick, but 4 feet across.

 

[farmerboybill]

Now with bigger rubber! I had these on an 852 for mowing a couple years ago and hadn't used them since. They're on 4 wheeler rims,so I took two plates, drilled one for the BCS, one for the rims, and welded them on a 5" piece of pipe. The Honda GX390 was too wide to mount them up directly, I had to mount 3 pairs of 5" axle extensions to get them out far enough to clear the engine, but Acme diesel is narrow enough to allow these to be used. They're 24 inches tall and work great for this 735. Really, the 735 is well suited for this job, It was built pre-OPC, so I can leave it running with the clutch engaged and in neutral. Leaving a newer BCS running with the clutch disengaged is hard on the clutch's bearing. With an OPC, a driver can turn fairly tight left, but has to go quite wide right, simply because he has to hold down the OPC. I'm probably not going to use this rig much (I have 4 wheeler, gator, and pickup), but it sure is fun to drive!

 

[FarmerAlex]

Now with bigger rubber! I had these on an 852 for mowing a couple years ago and hadn't used them since. They're on 4 wheeler rims,so I took two plates, drilled one for the BCS, one for the rims, and welded them on a 5" piece of pipe. The Honda GX390 was too wide to mount them up directly, I had to mount 3 pairs of 5" axle extensions to get them out far enough to clear the engine, but Acme diesel is narrow enough to allow these to be used. They're 24 inches tall and work great for this 735. Really, the 735 is well suited for this job, It was built pre-OPC, so I can leave it running with the clutch engaged and in neutral. Leaving a newer BCS running with the clutch disengaged is hard on the clutch's bearing. With an OPC, a driver can turn fairly tight left, but has to go quite wide right, simply because he has to hold down the OPC. I'm probably not going to use this rig much (I have 4 wheeler, gator, and pickup), but it sure is fun to drive!

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How do you find the diesels vs the gas engine, am looking at a newer machine with a Diesel engine. Wondering if it is really worth it??

Cheers Alex

 

[farmerboybill]

How do you find the diesels vs the gas engine, am looking at a newer machine with a Diesel engine. Wondering if it is really worth it??

Cheers Alex

Worth it financially? Nope. Worth it for the satisfaction of having a diesel machine? Definitely!

Diesels can't be beat for simplicity, torque, fuel stability, and fuel economy, but they do have drawbacks. They also smell more, vibrate more, are louder, but the initial purchase price ($1000+ more than comparable gasoline model) issue makes them unlikely to ever get even with the much lower cost gasoline models. One would have to run a machine for hundreds of hours a year.

Some people are making their own bio-diesel and could possibly justify a diesel faster. I know of people who have bought the system, made a few batches, then tried to sell the system. The only people making money on the systems are the ones selling them. One could also try installing a secondary starting tank, a tank heater on the primary tank, and a switcher valve to run strained used fryer oil in one, but I haven't heard of this on a small engine like these, only on buses and pickups.

 

[FarmerAlex]

Worth it financially? Nope. Worth it for the satisfaction of having a diesel machine? Definitely!

Diesels can't be beat for simplicity, torque, fuel stability, and fuel economy, but they do have drawbacks. They also smell more, vibrate more, are louder, but the initial purchase price ($1000+ more than comparable gasoline model) issue makes them unlikely to ever get even with the much lower cost gasoline models. One would have to run a machine for hundreds of hours a year.

Some people are making their own bio-diesel and could possibly justify a diesel faster. I know of people who have bought the system, made a few batches, then tried to sell the system. The only people making money on the systems are the ones selling them. One could also try installing a secondary starting tank, a tank heater on the primary tank, and a switcher valve to run strained used fryer oil in one, but I haven't heard of this on a small engine like these, only on buses and pickups.

I'm going to look at a second hand one but can't decide if it's really worth it, I will be doing around 500 hours on each machine this year. Got two petrol machines but never had a diesel

 

[farmerboybill]

I'm going to look at a second hand one but can't decide if it's really worth it, I will be doing around 500 hours on each machine this year. Got two petrol machines but never had a diesel

If it's cheap enough, I'd go for it. Sounds like you use them enough. With the hours you put on your machines, I assume you have hired help. Make it absolutely clear to all operators that they put DIESEL in it! I've seen a couple machines that were run on gasoline because the hired help couldn't tell the difference. Even if it's caught early, it's a hassle to drain the tank and purge the system, and no one needs that kind of pain.

 

[farmerboybill]

Planted my potatoes last night (yes, VERY late). These wheels are ridiculous! They're great!