Diesel ?

[GWGAllisfan 159]

I've been reading a lot about thes little Yanmar and generic Diesel engines. I wonder how they'd work out in a B-series?:D Apparently they have great power and run forever...I guess drive shaft adapters would be a problem, but it would be nice to cut grass on old cooking oil, and solvent waste. probably would require more money and time than I could come up with....

[Morris 0]

Just out of curiosity, how much do those little engines run for? I have wondered the same, but having to shell out mega-bucks on an engine to save a few cents on fuel and maintenance makes me wonder if it would be worth it, aside from the FUN factor, that is ! :-)

[BrianP 1]

Not sure about the cost of the motor, but making the fuel looks like a serious investment of time and money also. It seemed to be quite an involved process and there is the waste product to get rid of. Watched them create Bio-Diesel on "Horsepower TV" on cable not that long ago. The amount of "usable" fuel you get vs. waste didn't look like it was worth it to me. They proved a Dodge Ram with the Cummins diesel engine ran well and with reduced emissions, but you'd have to be really "green" environmentally (I recycle everything from cardboard to tin cans myself), to endure the process. You'd have to invest in the "distilling" equipment too. The diesel engine sounds like a significant upgrade though, if you can afford it. It looks like we'll all be paying dearly for any type of fuel for the forseeable future. My 2 cents worth.

[AC808 0]

Ive got feelers out looking for a Yanmar 3cyl to put in my 7112...Theres plenty of room...just need to get one.

[Morris 0]

A fellow I know has a 20 horse Onan engine. Now, this topic originally started with the feasibility of diesel engine repowering,but it got me thinking on alternative fuels. This Onan (twin cylinder) is set up to run on propane. All kinds of possibilities suggest themselves when you think of that. 10-gallon propane tanks from gas grills are everywhere, and the only thing that needs to be done is determining the proper flow regulator for it. I imagine gas might be cheaper in the future than liquid fuels anyway, if the feds will allow drilling for gas separately from oil. (The national parks have been off-limits to gas and oil due to the fact that there is only one kind of lease available, for natural gas AND oil drilling. Take "oil" out of the lease, and then natural gas is much easier to drill for and far less ecologically damaging). Food for thought anyway. This is making me think of going ahead and buying that engine...

[a7117puller 0]

morris, not sure what btu rating you need, but i am running 450k btu adjustable regulator off the header tube on the briggs in the 3314v(t-16v clone). shut off vavle recommend.

[Al 6]

Hi, The 3 cyl Briggs diesel 27hp is above 3000.00 not including the radiator, mounts, muffler etc. If you are wanting a small diesel, one place you might look is a truck-trailer shop. Most of the reefer units on these trailers have small diesels and they get junked. Looking at the Briggs 27 hp 3 cyl, I was just talking to the city today about the one we sold them and they said they run it all day on less than 5 gals of fuel. I would expect the 27 gas to use about 16 gal in the same time and a 27 fuel injected gas to use about 9 and a half. Note a commercial cutter doesn't need too long to pay the extra 800 to 900 for FI if it is available on the unit one is looking at. My 2 cents worth and its free, value accordingly. Al Eden

[D-17_Dave 12]

Better watch closely on the cost of propane. With the heating season comeing on I here propane and NG will get somewhere around 4-5 bucks a gallon dureing the middle of winter. Boy do the oil companies have us by the jewels or what?

[Morris 0]

Yeah, prices may come down, but not soon enough. Be nice if we could figure out a way to convert gas engines to diesel by raising compression and using some kind of injector pump... Heating will cost me an arm and a leg this winter. I have oil heat, currently 3.09/gallon. I don't get it--fuel oil is the same as diesel, but there's no highway tax on that. So, why is it the same as gas or diesel? They have us by the jewels all right. Bums me that they are reporting record profits. At these prices I'm sure they are....I wonder if there are any small 1-cylinder diesels out there? Never seen one, and wonder why.

[D-17_Dave 12]

There are lots of small diesels out there. Lombordini makes lots of sizes from about 5 HP on up to ?? But the application is screwy from an instalation standpoint and the rpms on diff. engines vary. I'm getting close to rounding up some much needed parts to hopefully finish my 28HP diesel convertion on my 620. I for one will be glad to see it up and running.

[Roy 0]

There are some small 1 cylinder Chinese engines out there. Forget where I saw them for sale but shouldn't be hard to find with a little searching.

[Morris 0]

Now, this is a diesel engine... http://www.bath.ac.uk/~ccsshb/12cyl/

[PGL 431]

Check out www.utterpower.com where they have some very interesting info on diesel and other power, including a chinese replica of a Yanmar called "Changfa"

[a7117puller 0]

how bout lil tinkering around with an old castiron briggs, converting one of them to diesel? I know itll run on partial mix, same with the kohler twin(dont ask...blame sis)

[MPH 12]

Didn't Lister make one and two cyl engines for small generators?

[Morris 0]

Found this site also. Check out the high speed Petter-type engines. They might be possible repower sources if someone wants to go the diesel route. I have read that the Asian countries depend on these little engines (as well as the low-speed Lister-types) for running pumps, generators, rice hullers, and all types of power-necessary applications. http://www.agroengine.com/diesel.htm