Propane as Tractor fuel

[Hoosier Hay Man]

We used a MM 670 LP and an Allis-Chalmers XT-190 LP about 25 years ago custom hay making. They were clean burning and we were able to go with extended oil changes and I never remember changing plugs. We had a portable tank (old anhydrous 2-wheel trailer) to fill in the field. Another advantage back then was we never had any fuel stolen when we left our tractors in the field. They did take a couple of grease guns once.

They are a bit less efficient than a diesel or gas. I found the Nebraska Test for MM670 and AC 190XT. Both were fun tractors in their day. A hunk of iron!

TractorData.com Allis Chalmers 190XT tractor tests information

TractorData.com Minneapolis-Moline M-670 tractor tests information

I can't say I felt it was anymore dangerous than gasoline. I am sure there have been plenty of gas burners burn up over filling a hot engine when many tanks were over the engine. I also had heard of a few gas burners plowing and creating enough heat from the engine to boil the gasoline in the tank if the cap wasn't vented well enough. Todays diesels are much nicerby far!

 

[Gary Fowler]

Propane/Butane burns cleaner than just about any other fuel except maybe hydrogen, BUT just like everyone has said, it takes more of it to do the same work compared to gasoline or diesel. We had an AC 190 XT back in the early 70s as I recall that was factory LP. It had lots of power for sure, but it would suck up over 100 gallons of propane daily. The oil stayed clean even after several hundred hours it was still fresh looking. But back then propane was cheap, much cheaper than gasoline. I converted my GMC truck over to LP then also but it took 60 gallons of Lp to go about the same distance as the 25 gallons of gasoline and after about 50,000 miles something happened to that engine and it started getting about 2-3 miles per gallon and had no power at all on gas and less on propane. Took off the propane, Put a new carb, new camshaft new everything that the mechanics could think of in that engine and nothing helped. Finally sold it to a mechanic for $500 and it was only 4 years old. Did the propane cause this problem, ??? maybe, maybe not but I havent dealt with propane since.

 

[The Dougster]

I have no first hand knowledge but I do have a friend in the propane business.. last year when gasoline was so expensive I asked him about switching over and he discouraged me. Apparently it has gotten VERY expensive to make the switch plus propane-fueled engines are not nearly as efficient. This fellow owns several service trucks/vehicles and I assure you, he is a businessman and if he could save money by switching, he'd be the first to do so.